This came from the Census Project and may be of interest.
http://www.thecensusproject.org/
Today, two subcommittees will hold a joint hearing on the Census Bureau's use of technology to improve the next decennial census and to reduce costs. This update also includes information on the Census Bureau's Fiscal Year 2016 budget; new resource information (posted on the Census Project's website) on the 2020 Census Operational Plan; and the U.S. Conference of Mayors new 2020 Census Task Force.
1. Appropriations update: Congress and the Administration have reached a budget deal for FY2016 (and FY2017) that will increase the overall spending limit for non-defense discretionary programs by $25 billion for the fiscal year that started October 1st. The House and Senate Appropriations Committees must now revise the 12 annual funding bills, and Congress must enact them, before the temporary spending bill (Continuing Resolution) expires on December 11th. The Census Project will circulate a sign-on letter later this week, urging appropriators to increase funding substantially for 2020 Census planning and the American Community Survey (ACS); the Commerce, Justice, and Science bills approved over the summer cut the budget significantly for both programs. (Congress is likely to roll all 12 appropriations bills into one Omnibus measure.)
2. Other congressional news: Two subcommittees of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, which has jurisdiction over Census Bureau programs, will hold a joint hearing, "Preparing for the 2020 Census: Will the Technology be Ready?,” on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 2:00pm in 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. The Subcommittee on Information Technology is chaired by Rep. William Hurd (R-TX); the Subcommittee on Government Operations is chaired by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC).
3. 2020 Census update: Census Director John Thompson and Associate Director for the Decennial Census, Lisa Blumerman, discussed the 2020 Census Operational Plan with Census Project stakeholders during an October 21st telephone briefing. The Bureau released the baseline plan on October 6th. The slides that accompanied the presentation are posted on our website.
4. Stakeholder news: The U.S. Conference of Mayors selected San Antonio Mayor Ivy Taylor to chair its Census Task Force for the 2020 Census. Mayor Taylor, a nonpartisan office holder, was elected on June 13, 2015, but she was previously appointed to the position when President Obama nominated former Mayor Julian Castro to be the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. The Conference is the official, non-partisan organization of cities with populations of 30,000 or higher.
Ed Christopher
Got this from The Census Project (http://thecensusproject.org/) and
thought I would pass it along. It is a long email.
MARCH 2016 UPDATE
FY2017 Census Bureau funding: Both the House and Senate Appropriations
Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) have held hearings
to review the Administrations budget request for the Department of
Commerce, of which the Census Bureau is a part. Congressional supporters
of full funding for 2020 Census planning and a reliable, comprehensive ACS
have sent letters to their respective funding committees. The Senate
sign-on letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…)
(organized by Sen. Al Franken, D-MN) and House sign-on letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…
by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Keith Ellison,
D-MN) are posted on our website under Letters: Fiscal Year 2017
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…).
Please take a moment to thank your Representative and/or Senators if they
signed the letters!
Each CJS Subcommittee will now draft a FY2017 bill, allocating funds for
all programs within its jurisdiction. The bills are unveiled when the
ubcommittees hold their respective mark-ups (a meeting to consider and
vote on bills), which usually take place in April or May. The full
Appropriations Committees will hold their own mark-ups shortly after the
subcommittees approve their bills; appropriators are most likely to offer
amendments during full committee mark-ups. The House and Senate will then
schedule consideration of their respective bills on the floor, when any
lawmaker can offer amendments. FY2017 starts on October 1st; if Congress
has not passed (and the President has not signed) all of the 12 regular
appropriations bills, it must pass a temporary spending measure (called a
Continuing Resolution, or CR) to keep government agencies operating. A CR
generally funds agencies and programs at current year (FY2016) levels,
unless the bill provides a specific exception for higher funding (called
an anomaly).
Complicating the process this year: Congress might not be able to pass a
Budget Resolution, which sets the framework for overall spending and
allows the Appropriations Committee to divvy up the pot among the 12
subcommittees. Even though Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of
2016 last December, setting defense and non-defense spending caps for
FY2017, some Members are balking and demanding changes in those spending
levels. Whether lawmakers can reach an agreement and consider the
appropriations bills through the regular process described above remains
to be seen.
Nevertheless, census stakeholders should continue to advocate for full
funding for the 2020 Census and the ACS, and remind lawmakers that the
Census Bureau cant put the ramp-up to the next census on hold, even if
Congress cant get its work done. We have to take a census every ten years
the Constitution says so!
New Fact Sheet: We have updated our Fact Sheet explaining the importance
of the American Community Survey for prudent decision-making, resource
allocation, and planning across all sectors of society. Why We Need the
U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
is available on our website under the ACS
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…)
tab.
Business community highlights support for the ACS: An influential group of
business and industry associations sent a letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging full
funding for the Census Bureaus American Community Survey and supporting
continued mandatory survey response. The letter is posted on our website
under the Letters
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
tab. Thank you, business associations, for being a valuable part of our
census coalition!
NEW Census Project Toolkit: The Census Project has produced a toolkit,
Supporting the Census & ACS: A Toolkit for Coalition Building
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
, to help state and local organizations harness their influence in
support of an accurate census and comprehensive ACS. Download a copy from
our website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
.
Census Advocacy Day a success! The first Census Advocacy Day on the Hill
organized by the NALEO Educational Fund, an active Census Project
coalition member included about 20 visits to individual House and Senate
offices, as well as briefings for small groups of offices. Census
advocates who participated in the meetings were successful in urging many
of the Members to join the sign-on letters to the Appropriations
Committees in support of the Census Bureaus budget request.
2020 Census updates:
The 2016 Census Test swings into full gear this week in portions of Los
Angeles County and Harris County, TX. The Census Bureau is evaluating and
refining a range of key operations, including effective strategies to
maximize self-response (especially via the Internet), automated field
operations for Nonresponse Follow-up (NRFU), and use of administrative
records (data collected by government agencies and third-parties) to
reduce the NRFU workload and costs. More information on the test is
available on the Census Bureaus website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
.
Federal Register Notice The Census Bureau invites the public to comment
on its plans for the 2016 Address Canvassing Test, scheduled for this
fall. The bureau will continue to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of
its plan to update about 75 percent of the master address list for the
census using in-office methods, thereby reducing the cost of the
pre-census address canvassing operation. The test also will examine and
refine methods for in-field address canvassing. The FRN is available
online
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
The 60-day comment period ends on May 23, 2016.
The Census Bureau is moving forward with its extensive research on
alternative race and ethnicity question(s) for the 2020 Census. This
month, it unveiled a pre-decisional 2015 National Content Test Study
Plan, which will guide its analysis of test results and provide a basis
for recommendations on these questions. Under Title 13, U.S.C. (the Census
Act), the Bureau must submit to Congress the topics to be covered in the
2020 Census by April 1, 2017, and the actual questions for the 2020 Census
form by April 1, 2018. We will post a link to the plan and a recorded
webinar explaining it, as soon as those materials are available publicly.
Census Residence Rules Counting Prisoners: The Census Bureau continues
to review the residence rules that guide where people are counted on
Census Day. The bureau published a Federal Register Notice last year,
inviting comments on whether there should be changes to the 2010 Census
rules. Background on the rules and a compilation of comments submitted are
available on the bureaus website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
In a development that could influence the Census Bureaus decision on
where to count persons who are incarcerated on Census Day, a federal
district judge ruled earlier this week, in a case challenging prison
gerrymandering in Jefferson County, Floridas, board redistricting plan,
that counting inmates at their prison, instead of in their home
communities, violated the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of fair
representation under the Equal Protection Clause. More information on
Calvin v. Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (U.S. District Court,
Northern District of Florida) is available from the Prison Policy
Initiative
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
###
--
Ed Christopher
Got this from The Census Project (http://thecensusproject.org/) and
thought I would pass it along. It is a long email.
MARCH 2016 UPDATE
FY2017 Census Bureau funding: Both the House and Senate Appropriations
Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, and Science (CJS) have held hearings
to review the Administrations budget request for the Department of
Commerce, of which the Census Bureau is a part. Congressional supporters
of full funding for 2020 Census planning and a reliable, comprehensive ACS
have sent letters to their respective funding committees. The Senate
sign-on letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…)
(organized by Sen. Al Franken, D-MN) and House sign-on letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…
by Reps. Carolyn Maloney, D-NY, Gerald Connolly, D-VA, and Keith Ellison,
D-MN) are posted on our website under Letters: Fiscal Year 2017
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…).
Please take a moment to thank your Representative and/or Senators if they
signed the letters!
Each CJS Subcommittee will now draft a FY2017 bill, allocating funds for
all programs within its jurisdiction. The bills are unveiled when the
ubcommittees hold their respective mark-ups (a meeting to consider and
vote on bills), which usually take place in April or May. The full
Appropriations Committees will hold their own mark-ups shortly after the
subcommittees approve their bills; appropriators are most likely to offer
amendments during full committee mark-ups. The House and Senate will then
schedule consideration of their respective bills on the floor, when any
lawmaker can offer amendments. FY2017 starts on October 1st; if Congress
has not passed (and the President has not signed) all of the 12 regular
appropriations bills, it must pass a temporary spending measure (called a
Continuing Resolution, or CR) to keep government agencies operating. A CR
generally funds agencies and programs at current year (FY2016) levels,
unless the bill provides a specific exception for higher funding (called
an anomaly).
Complicating the process this year: Congress might not be able to pass a
Budget Resolution, which sets the framework for overall spending and
allows the Appropriations Committee to divvy up the pot among the 12
subcommittees. Even though Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of
2016 last December, setting defense and non-defense spending caps for
FY2017, some Members are balking and demanding changes in those spending
levels. Whether lawmakers can reach an agreement and consider the
appropriations bills through the regular process described above remains
to be seen.
Nevertheless, census stakeholders should continue to advocate for full
funding for the 2020 Census and the ACS, and remind lawmakers that the
Census Bureau cant put the ramp-up to the next census on hold, even if
Congress cant get its work done. We have to take a census every ten years
the Constitution says so!
New Fact Sheet: We have updated our Fact Sheet explaining the importance
of the American Community Survey for prudent decision-making, resource
allocation, and planning across all sectors of society. Why We Need the
U.S. Census Bureaus American Community Survey
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
is available on our website under the ACS
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe5…)
tab.
Business community highlights support for the ACS: An influential group of
business and industry associations sent a letter
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
to leaders of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging full
funding for the Census Bureaus American Community Survey and supporting
continued mandatory survey response. The letter is posted on our website
under the Letters
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
tab. Thank you, business associations, for being a valuable part of our
census coalition!
NEW Census Project Toolkit: The Census Project has produced a toolkit,
Supporting the Census & ACS: A Toolkit for Coalition Building
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
, to help state and local organizations harness their influence in
support of an accurate census and comprehensive ACS. Download a copy from
our website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
.
Census Advocacy Day a success! The first Census Advocacy Day on the Hill
organized by the NALEO Educational Fund, an active Census Project
coalition member included about 20 visits to individual House and Senate
offices, as well as briefings for small groups of offices. Census
advocates who participated in the meetings were successful in urging many
of the Members to join the sign-on letters to the Appropriations
Committees in support of the Census Bureaus budget request.
2020 Census updates:
The 2016 Census Test swings into full gear this week in portions of Los
Angeles County and Harris County, TX. The Census Bureau is evaluating and
refining a range of key operations, including effective strategies to
maximize self-response (especially via the Internet), automated field
operations for Nonresponse Follow-up (NRFU), and use of administrative
records (data collected by government agencies and third-parties) to
reduce the NRFU workload and costs. More information on the test is
available on the Census Bureaus website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…)
.
Federal Register Notice The Census Bureau invites the public to comment
on its plans for the 2016 Address Canvassing Test, scheduled for this
fall. The bureau will continue to evaluate the feasibility and accuracy of
its plan to update about 75 percent of the master address list for the
census using in-office methods, thereby reducing the cost of the
pre-census address canvassing operation. The test also will examine and
refine methods for in-field address canvassing. The FRN is available
online
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
The 60-day comment period ends on May 23, 2016.
The Census Bureau is moving forward with its extensive research on
alternative race and ethnicity question(s) for the 2020 Census. This
month, it unveiled a pre-decisional 2015 National Content Test Study
Plan, which will guide its analysis of test results and provide a basis
for recommendations on these questions. Under Title 13, U.S.C. (the Census
Act), the Bureau must submit to Congress the topics to be covered in the
2020 Census by April 1, 2017, and the actual questions for the 2020 Census
form by April 1, 2018. We will post a link to the plan and a recorded
webinar explaining it, as soon as those materials are available publicly.
Census Residence Rules Counting Prisoners: The Census Bureau continues
to review the residence rules that guide where people are counted on
Census Day. The bureau published a Federal Register Notice last year,
inviting comments on whether there should be changes to the 2010 Census
rules. Background on the rules and a compilation of comments submitted are
available on the bureaus website
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
In a development that could influence the Census Bureaus decision on
where to count persons who are incarcerated on Census Day, a federal
district judge ruled earlier this week, in a case challenging prison
gerrymandering in Jefferson County, Floridas, board redistricting plan,
that counting inmates at their prison, instead of in their home
communities, violated the U.S. Constitutions guarantee of fair
representation under the Equal Protection Clause. More information on
Calvin v. Jefferson County Board of Commissioners (U.S. District Court,
Northern District of Florida) is available from the Prison Policy
Initiative
(http://thecensusproject.us6.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2d1784c40f46dfe51…).
###
--
Ed Christopher
Hello,
Can you forward the availably position at the Benton-Franklin Council of Governments to the CTPP listserve? Thank You.
Transportation Planning Specialist
The Benton-Franklin Council of Governments is seeking an individual to perform a variety of professional transportation planning activities. The transportation planning specialist position is part of a five person team within the agency and works under the direct supervision of the Transportation Programs Manager. See the position description below for information about the agency, benefits, region, and application requirements. For further information please contact Tanna Dole at (509) 943-9185.
http://bfcog.us/employment/
Jacob B. Gonzalez
Transportation Planning Specialist
Benton-Franklin Council of Governments
jgonzalez(a)bfcog.us<mailto:jgonzalez@bfcog.us> | 509.943.9185<tel:509.943.9185> | www.bfcog.us<http://www.bfcog.us>
BFCG fully complies with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and related statutes and regulations in all programs and activities. For more information or to obtain a Title VI Complaint Form call (509) 943-9185 or online at www.bfcog.us<http://www.bfcog.us>.
From: Jones, Jessie [mailto:Jessie.Jones@ahtd.ar.gov]
Sent: Wednesday, March 23, 2016 12:16 PM
To: Weinberger Penelope
Subject: Transportation Planning Specialist
Penelope,
The Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department has a job opening in the Multimodal and Project Planning Section. In particular, we are looking for someone who has significant experience in working with demographic data. The following is the job posting. Would you mind to send this to any groups that may know of someone who may be interested?
https://wfa.kronostm.com/index.jsp?SRCSEQ=postingSearchResults&locale=en_US…
Thank you so much!
Jessie Jones, P.E. |Division Head
Transportation Planning and Policy Division
Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department
P.O. Box 2261, Little Rock, AR 72203-2261
Phone: 501-569-2201
[cid:image005.png@01D184F5.6AC03390][cid:image006.png@01D184F5.6AC03390]
From: Gardner, Brian (FHWA)
Sent: Tuesday, March 08, 2016 8:22 AM
To: 'Main discussion list for the Travel Model Improvement Program.'
Subject: FHWA is hiring!
FHWA is seeking a senior level (GS14/15) planner with a strong background in data collection and analysis. The position is responsible for providing leadership, program expertise and technical support for the implementation of the metropolitan planning process with an emphasis on data needs for transportation planning, programming, and project development. The position is also responsible for providing technical assistance to FHWA staff, State and local agencies, and other parties in the development and implementation of transportation planning techniques and processes, including but not limited to the implementation of the Census Transportation Planning Package.
For more information or to apply see:
FHWA.HEP-2016-0024- (US Citizens, non-federal):
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/431685400
FHWA.HEP-2016-0021- (if you are currently a federal employee of the United States):
https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/431685800
The advertisement is open until March 14. If you have questions about the application process, please contact TRANSJOBS(a)dot.gov<mailto:TRANSJOBS@dot.gov>.
Brian Gardner
FHWA Office of Planning
Brian.Gardner(a)dot.gov<mailto:Brian.Gardner@dot.gov>