Case 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT Document 40-1 Filed 11/16/20 Page 1 of 6
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`Exhibit 1
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`Declaration of Hubert Hamer
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`United Farm Workers et al. v. Perdue et al.
`No. 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT
`Exhibit to Defendants’ Notice
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`Case 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT Document 40-1 Filed 11/16/20 Page 2 of 6
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`IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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`EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA
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`FRESNO DIVISION
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`Case No. 1:20-CV-01452-DAD-JLT
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`DECLARATION OF HUBERT HAMER
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`UNITED FARM WORKERS, et al.,
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`Plaintiffs,
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`SONNY PERDUE, in his official capacity as
`the Secretary of the United States Department
`of Agriculture, et al.,
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`Defendants.
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`Case 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT Document 40-1 Filed 11/16/20 Page 3 of 6
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`DECLARATION OF HUBERT HAMER
`I, Hubert Hamer, make the following declaration in lieu of an affidavit, as permitted by Section
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`1746 of Title 28 of the United States Code.
`1.
`I am currently the Administrator of the U.S. National Agricultural Statistics Service
`(“NASS”), United States Department of Agriculture (“USDA”). I have served in this position since
`April 2016. I previously served as director of NASS’s Statistics Division and chair of USDA’s
`Agricultural Statistics Board. In my capacity as NASS Administrator, I am responsible the overall
`administration of the NASS survey and estimation program.
`2.
`I have personal knowledge of the facts contained in this Declaration and, if called to
`testify as a witness, I can and will competently testify to the facts stated herein.
`3.
`In recent years, NASS has published the Farm Labor report semi-annually, in May and
`November. The May report includes employment and wage estimates based on January and April
`reference weeks, and the November report includes estimates based on July and October reference
`weeks. The November report additionally provides annual data based on the quarterly estimates. In
`each case, the reference week is the Sunday to Saturday period that includes the 12th day of the month.
`4.
`On September 30, 2020, USDA issued a notice announcing its intention not to collect
`data for the Farm Labor Survey previously scheduled for October 2020 and not to publish the Farm
`Labor report previously scheduled for November 2020.
`5.
`On October 28, 2020, this Court issued an order restraining and preventing USDA from
`“giving effect to the September 30, 2020 decision to suspend the October 2020 [Farm Labor Survey]
`and cease publication of the November 2020 [Farm Labor report].”
`6.
`Prior to the Court’s Order, and to be in a position to move quickly if the Court issued an
`injunction, NASS shipped the survey questionnaires from Washington, DC, where they are printed, to
`NASS’s processing facility in St. Louis.
`7.
`In accordance with the Court’s Order, NASS then finished preparing the survey
`questionnaires for mailing by assembling the surveys in envelopes and affixing labels to the envelopes.
`NASS completed these pre-mailing steps during the week of November 2, 2020.
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`DECLARATION OF HUBERT HAMER
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`Case 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT Document 40-1 Filed 11/16/20 Page 4 of 6
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`8.
`OIRA has informed USDA that a reinstatement notice must be cleared by OIRA and
`published in the Federal Register prior to NASS mailing out the survey questionnaires. Accordingly,
`during the week of November 2, 2020, NASS prepared a draft Federal Register notice announcing the
`reinstatement of the Farm Labor Survey originally scheduled for October 2020 and the Farm Labor
`report originally scheduled for November 2020. This notice will inform the public, and specifically
`survey respondents, that the prior suspension notice is no longer effective and that survey respondents
`should expect to be contacted by mail and phone in the coming days. The notice is expected to increase
`participation from survey participants and avoid confusion from respondents who previously understood
`the October 2020 data collection to have been suspended. A similar notice was published in the Federal
`Register in 2007 and 2011 announcing the resumption of data collection.
`9.
`On the morning of Tuesday, November 10, NASS submitted the draft notice to OIRA for
`clearance. After OIRA concludes its review, NASS will promptly transmit the notice to the Office of
`the Federal Register for publication. Because NASS has completed all pre-mailing steps, once the
`reinstatement notice is published in the Federal Register, NASS will promptly mail the survey
`questionnaires to the respondents and begin data collection.
`10.
`From the date that the notice is published in the Federal Register, the data collection and
`report publication process will take approximately nine weeks, as set forth in the table below.
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`Farm Labor Data Collection & Publication Timeline
`Duration
`Task
`Two Weeks
`Mail Period
`Two Weeks
`Phoning Period, Internet Period & Field Interview Period
`Two Weeks
`Edit & Analysis
`Three Weeks
`Summary, Estimates, Publication Review & Release
`Total USDA-NASS Survey-Summary-Estimation-Release Period Nine Weeks
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`11.
`The Farm Labor report was originally scheduled for publication on November 25, 2020.
`To publish the report by November 25, 2020, NASS would have mailed questionnaires during the week
`of September 28, 2020. The entire process, from mailing questionnaires to publishing the final report,
`would have taken approximately eight weeks.
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`12.
`Completing the Farm Labor Survey off-cycle from its originally scheduled collection
`period has lengthened the collection and analysis period by approximately one week. The additional
`time is necessary for at least three reasons.
`13.
`First, NASS annually publishes approximately 450 agricultural statistical national reports
`each year, including 44 of the 68 Principal Federal Economic Indicator reports for USDA, and
`thousands of additional agricultural statistical State reports, covering more than 120 crops, 45 livestock
`items, and 12 major economic and environmental categories. To ensure these statistical reports are
`delivered as scheduled, NASS must balance available staff resources for each project and ensure that
`adequate bandwidth exists throughout the calendar year. To do so, NASS schedules and preannounces
`to the public the release date of each planned report in NASS’s Agricultural Statistics Board Calendar.
`14.
`Completion of the Farm Labor Survey outside of the original research timeline creates
`additional resource challenges and will take longer than usual. As one example of the increased
`competing demands that NASS faces under a revised research schedule, the original research timeline
`overlaps with three Principal Federal Economic indicator reports while a research timeline shifted back
`by one month overlaps with six Principal Federal Economic reports along with some additional large-
`scale projects including the Census of Horticultural Specialties, the Annual Floriculture Crops report,
`and County-level estimates for Barley, Oats, and Wheat.
`15.
`Second, this year has added additional difficulties in balancing these resources. In prior
`years, NASS utilized both in-person and telephone follow-up procedures to increase participation. Since
`the pandemic began, in-person follow-up procedures have been suspended, including with the April
`2020 Farm Labor Survey data collection. Further, due to COVID-19 restrictions, NASS’s four call
`centers are currently closed, which has forced NASS to implement a decentralized phone data collection
`system. Callers using this decentralized phone data collection system lack a number of the tools
`available in call centers, such as auto dialers and software typically used to record responses.
`16.
`Third, under the original research timeline, data collection occurred during the month of
`October. At the earliest, data collection will occur in November and December. During this period,
`there are a few major holidays that may place additional limits on NASS’s ability to reach producers in
`follow-up phone calls.
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`DECLARATION OF HUBERT HAMER
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`Case 1:20-cv-01452-DAD-JLT Document 40-1 Filed 11/16/20 Page 6 of 6
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`17.
`NASS cannot expedite this timeline without compromising the integrity and accuracy of
`the Farm Labor Survey and the accompanying Farm Labor report. Publishing a Farm Labor report that
`is not accurate would also jeopardize the public’s perception of the legitimacy of hundreds of NASS’s
`other reports.
`18.
`In accordance with the timeline outlined above, NASS does not expect publication of the
`Farm Labor report before the end of the calendar year. Because NASS has already completed all pre-
`mailing requirements, NASS estimates that it will publish the Farm Labor report within nine weeks of
`publication of the reinstatement notice in the Federal Register.
`I declare under penalty of perjury pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1746 that the foregoing is true and
`correct.
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`EXECUTED at Washington, D.C., on this __16_ day of November 2020.
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`/s/ Hubert Hamer
`(original signature retained by attorney Michael J. Gaffney)
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`________________________
`Hubert Hamer
`Administrator
`National Agricultural Statistics Service
`U.S. Department of Agriculture
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`DECLARATION OF HUBERT HAMER
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