Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross told the House Oversight Committee Thursday completing the 2020 census will require a budget of $15.6 billion, which represents a $3.3 billion, or 27 percent, increase over previous estimates.

Ross also told the committee they would have the proper funding needed for the immediate future and would have the next year “pretty well within hand,” with an additional $187 million in funding for fiscal year 2018 for the Census Bureau. If that funding is received, it would allay numerous concerns about the amount of progress made or lack thereof on technology improvements meant to have been implemented over the past few years.