August is normally quiet in Washington, DC, but in keeping with the theme of 2020, this month has been more frenetic. While we beat back new taxes on the insights industry, the Insights Association has had to tangle with the demise of the U.S.-EU Privacy Shield for data transfer, further pandemic relief, some new threats to pharma MR, the finalization of CCPA, and an attempt to rush the 2020 Census that threatens the statistical viability of most marketing research and data analytics in the U.S.

The American business community banded together today in support of extending “the statutory reporting deadlines for the 2020 Census by four months.” Eighty-seven business groups and companies warned Congressional leaders that “a rushed census in the midst of the current public health crisis will harm every state, every business, and every industry in the country relying upon the resulting data."

The Insights Association joined with nearly 900 other organizations in the Census Project coalition on August 6 in support of adding a provision to the next COVID-19 relief bill to extend the legal deadlines for census data reporting and give the Census Bureau time to complete the 2020 Census.

Since 2020 Census field operations have been disrupted and significantly delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Insights Association joined a coalition letter with 147 other organizations in support of a $400 million infusion of funds to replenish the Census Bureau's contingency funds.

The Insights Association has been racking up advocacy wins for our members in the areas of pharmaceutical research, small business loan forgiveness, telephone research, and jury trial research.

The Insights Association joined with 88 other Census Project coalition partners in a May 14, 2020 letter to Congress calling for more census funding.

The 2020 Census is moving right along, although the ordinary schedule has been thrown out the window.

The U.S. Census Bureau has launched "two new experimental surveys to measure temporal social and economic trends in the nation’s small businesses and households over the next three months" to "provide insight into the scope of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic response on social and economic measures in the U.S." While plenty in the marketing research and data analytics industry are running studies of such nature during the COVID-19 crisis, including the Insights Association's member surveys, few are likely to reach the Census Bureau's scale.

In testimony submitted to the House CJS Appropriations Subcommittee on March 13, 2020, the Insights Assocition called for Congress to provide the Census Bureau with “at least $1.681 billion in the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) CJS Appropriations legislation.” The President’s Budget requested $1.672 billion for the Bureau in FY 21.

The insights industry relies upon accurate census data more than most, so the Insights Association urges you to help get out the count this year.