Sheltering at home? Grassley says now’s a good time to fill out that Census form

NEW HARTFORD — With so many Iowans spending more time at home lately, Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says it’s the ideal opportunity for them to take a few minutes and fill out their U-S Census questionnaires.

Grassley is urging Iowans to complete the form online, which especially makes sense during the coronavirus pandemic.  Grassley says, “I want Iowans to spread the word to their family members and friends, particularly those who spend their winters outside of Iowa, that we want them counted in Iowa.”

If you respond online, by phone or by mail, Grassley says it will minimize the need to send census takers out into communities to follow up.   Grassley says, “If you live most of the year in Iowa, be sure you’re going to be counted in our state even if you aren’t in Iowa on April the 1st.”

The census is used in determining Iowa’s representation in Congress as well as for hundreds of billions of federal dollars for programs ranging from food and health care to road construction.  “Every Iowan counts,” Grassley says, “and I want every Iowan counted in Iowa.”

The Census Bureau reported last week that Iowa’s response rate ranks number-two in the country, just a fraction behind Wisconsin and just ahead of Minnesota. While the national average is 21-percent, the bureau says about 26-percent of Iowans have already filled out their census forms, with 23-percent of Iowans responding online.