WESLACO – The U.S. Census Bureau announced the start of the agency’s first major operation for the 2020 Census.

The bureau is launching address canvassing to improve their list of households.

They say Census Bureau employees have already begun verifying addresses and will do so until mid-October.

Officials are reminding the pubic, their employees will be identified with badges and clearly labeled briefcases to indicate their affiliation with the agency.

The Census will officially start counting people in January 2020 and send out invitations to respond online, by phone or by mail in March 2020.

Data gathered is used to determine the number of seats each state holds in Congress and how more than $675 billion in federal funds are distributed back to states and local communities.