Can't we get a handle on and put an end to this kind of garbage email!?
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Fax: 316-268-4390
E-mail: sbanks(a)wichita.gov
Website: http://www.wichita.gov/CityOffices/Planning/
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Today's Topics:
1. Re: CENSUS NEWS BRIEF (Richard Lin)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 23 Feb 2009 13:03:48 -0700
From: "Richard Lin" <richard.lin(a)state.co.us>
Subject: Re: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
To: <edc(a)berwyned.com>, "ctpp-news maillist" <ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net>
Message-ID: <s9a29ed4.011(a)dem.state.co.us>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Dear edc and All,
i am retiring in three weeks. Please remove my name from your email list. Thank you.l
________________________________
Richard Lin, Ph.D.
Senior Estimates Demographer
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
State Demography Office
1313 Sherman Street, Room 521
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-4989
Fax:: (303)866-2660
richard.lin(a)state.co.us
www.DOLA.Colorado.Gov
>>> edc(a)berwyned.com 2/3/2009 8:16 AM >>>
PRESIDENT SELECTS SEN. GREGG FOR COMMERCE SECRETARY;
SENATE CONSIDERS $1B FOR CENSUS IN STIMULUS BILL
Plus: House Passes Stimulus Funds for Census
President Obama has selected Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New
Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary. The post would give Sen. Gregg
authority over the Census Bureau and upcoming decennial census. The
Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department's Economics and
Statistics Administration (ESA), which also houses the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA).
Sen. Gregg, a three-term senator, former representative, and former New
Hampshire governor, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget
Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee. He is a member
and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
Science (formerly Commerce, Justice, and State), which funds the Census
Bureau. The biography posted on his official web site highlights his
interest in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
another large Commerce Department agency.
Sen. Gregg chaired the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, and State during the 2000 census. In 1999, he questioned the
Administration's request for additional census funding for fiscal year
2000; the Census Bureau had asked for an extra $1.7 billion after a
Supreme Court decision forced it to redesign non-response follow-up
operations. The House of Representatives had approved the full $4.5
billion for the census year, while the Senate allocated the $2.8 billion
the Administration had sought before the Court ruling in a case
challenging the use of sampling to compile census population counts used
for congressional apportionment. Sen. Gregg especially questioned the
House's proposal to designate all census funding for 2000 as "emergency"
spending, which would remove the allocation from under tight budget
caps. The impasse over census funding helped delay passage of final
spending bills for 2000; Congress eventually approved the full funding
request, designating the entire amount as an "emergency."
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold
confirmation hearings for Sen. Gregg, while the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee will be responsible for confirming a
Census director. President Obama has not yet nominated an Under
Secretary for Economic Affairs, who oversees the ESA, or Census Bureau
director; both positions require Senate confirmation.
Economic stimulus bill includes extra funds for 2010 census: On January
28, by a vote of 244 * 188, the U.S. House of Representatives approved
an $819 economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1) that includes $1 billion in
additional funds for the 2010 census. No Republican lawmakers supported
the bill.
The stimulus package requested by President Obama is also working its
way through the U.S. Senate. Last week, the Committee on Appropriations
approved its own version of the economic recovery package (S. 336),
which includes $1 billion for the 2010 census. The funds would be
available until September 30, 2010. The Census Bureau is required by
law to report state population totals to the President by December 31,
2010, and detailed populations counts to the states for redistricting
purposes by April 1, 2011.
Committee report language (S. Rept. 111-3) directs the Census Bureau to
use $780 million to hire more census takers "to count underserved
communities"; $120 million to expand the Partnership Program, "with
specific focus being placed on hard to reach populations"; and $100
million to increase outreach and promotion "to minority communities."
Appropriators suggested that the Census Bureau hire additional staff who
are experienced with partnership programs and are trusted community
leaders who can convey the importance of participating in the census to
"hard to reach" populations.
The full Senate is considering the package this week. Amendments to
strip or reduce some of the funding from the bill, including the
proposed $1 billion for the 2010 census, are possible.
The House version of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009" does not lay out as many specific dollar amounts for spending the
additional money, instead saying more broadly that the Census Bureau
should "hire additional personnel, provide required training, increase
targeted media purchases, and improve management of other operational
and programmatic risks to ensure a successful decennial." The Census
Bureau should use $150 million for "expanded communications and outreach
programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups," according to the
House Appropriations committee.
An analysis of the economic stimulus package by Robert Santos of the
Urban Institute, a Washington, DC think-tank, concludes that the
proposed spending for the 2010 census "would provide an infusion of new
jobs, better community participation and a more accurate census." Dr.
Santos calls the census "a shovel-ready infrastructure project," a
reference to one of President Obama's criteria for including projects in
a stimulus package. The analysis is available on-line at
http://www.urban.org/issues/recovery.cfm#santos.
Senator urges quick appointment of Census Director: Senator Thomas
Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial
Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International
Security (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), sent
a letter to President Obama on January 28, urging him to "move quickly
to fill the top leadership at the Commerce Department and the Census
Bureau with individuals with the knowledge and the management skills
necessary to get the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Census back on
track for good." The chairman said that "serious challenges in managing
key information technology activities" and reduced spending on
advertising and outreach have led the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) to designate the 2010 census as a "high risk" federal program.
Sen. Carper called on the President to make the "overall success [of the
census] a top priority of your Administration."
The Federal Financial Management panel has tentatively scheduled an
oversight hearing for February 25 to review the status of planning for
the 2010 census.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
Dear edc and All,
i am retiring in three weeks. Please remove my name from your email list. Thank you.l
________________________________
Richard Lin, Ph.D.
Senior Estimates Demographer
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
State Demography Office
1313 Sherman Street, Room 521
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-4989
Fax:: (303)866-2660
richard.lin(a)state.co.us
www.DOLA.Colorado.Gov
>>> edc(a)berwyned.com 2/3/2009 8:16 AM >>>
PRESIDENT SELECTS SEN. GREGG FOR COMMERCE SECRETARY;
SENATE CONSIDERS $1B FOR CENSUS IN STIMULUS BILL
Plus: House Passes Stimulus Funds for Census
President Obama has selected Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New
Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary. The post would give Sen. Gregg
authority over the Census Bureau and upcoming decennial census. The
Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Departments Economics and
Statistics Administration (ESA), which also houses the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA).
Sen. Gregg, a three-term senator, former representative, and former New
Hampshire governor, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget
Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee. He is a member
and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
Science (formerly Commerce, Justice, and State), which funds the Census
Bureau. The biography posted on his official web site highlights his
interest in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
another large Commerce Department agency.
Sen. Gregg chaired the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, and State during the 2000 census. In 1999, he questioned the
Administrations request for additional census funding for fiscal year
2000; the Census Bureau had asked for an extra $1.7 billion after a
Supreme Court decision forced it to redesign non-response follow-up
operations. The House of Representatives had approved the full $4.5
billion for the census year, while the Senate allocated the $2.8 billion
the Administration had sought before the Court ruling in a case
challenging the use of sampling to compile census population counts used
for congressional apportionment. Sen. Gregg especially questioned the
Houses proposal to designate all census funding for 2000 as emergency
spending, which would remove the allocation from under tight budget
caps. The impasse over census funding helped delay passage of final
spending bills for 2000; Congress eventually approved the full funding
request, designating the entire amount as an emergency.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold
confirmation hearings for Sen. Gregg, while the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee will be responsible for confirming a
Census director. President Obama has not yet nominated an Under
Secretary for Economic Affairs, who oversees the ESA, or Census Bureau
director; both positions require Senate confirmation.
Economic stimulus bill includes extra funds for 2010 census: On January
28, by a vote of 244 * 188, the U.S. House of Representatives approved
an $819 economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1) that includes $1 billion in
additional funds for the 2010 census. No Republican lawmakers supported
the bill.
The stimulus package requested by President Obama is also working its
way through the U.S. Senate. Last week, the Committee on Appropriations
approved its own version of the economic recovery package (S. 336),
which includes $1 billion for the 2010 census. The funds would be
available until September 30, 2010. The Census Bureau is required by
law to report state population totals to the President by December 31,
2010, and detailed populations counts to the states for redistricting
purposes by April 1, 2011.
Committee report language (S. Rept. 111-3) directs the Census Bureau to
use $780 million to hire more census takers to count underserved
communities; $120 million to expand the Partnership Program, with
specific focus being placed on hard to reach populations; and $100
million to increase outreach and promotion to minority communities.
Appropriators suggested that the Census Bureau hire additional staff who
are experienced with partnership programs and are trusted community
leaders who can convey the importance of participating in the census to
hard to reach populations.
The full Senate is considering the package this week. Amendments to
strip or reduce some of the funding from the bill, including the
proposed $1 billion for the 2010 census, are possible.
The House version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009 does not lay out as many specific dollar amounts for spending the
additional money, instead saying more broadly that the Census Bureau
should hire additional personnel, provide required training, increase
targeted media purchases, and improve management of other operational
and programmatic risks to ensure a successful decennial. The Census
Bureau should use $150 million for expanded communications and outreach
programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups, according to the
House Appropriations committee.
An analysis of the economic stimulus package by Robert Santos of the
Urban Institute, a Washington, DC think-tank, concludes that the
proposed spending for the 2010 census would provide an infusion of new
jobs, better community participation and a more accurate census. Dr.
Santos calls the census a shovel-ready infrastructure project, a
reference to one of President Obamas criteria for including projects in
a stimulus package. The analysis is available on-line at
http://www.urban.org/issues/recovery.cfm#santos.
Senator urges quick appointment of Census Director: Senator Thomas
Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial
Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International
Security (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), sent
a letter to President Obama on January 28, urging him to move quickly
to fill the top leadership at the Commerce Department and the Census
Bureau with individuals with the knowledge and the management skills
necessary to get the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Census back on
track for good. The chairman said that serious challenges in managing
key information technology activities and reduced spending on
advertising and outreach have led the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) to designate the 2010 census as a high risk federal program.
Sen. Carper called on the President to make the overall success [of the
census] a top priority of your Administration.
The Federal Financial Management panel has tentatively scheduled an
oversight hearing for February 25 to review the status of planning for
the 2010 census.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
STIMULUS PACKAGE BOOSTS 2010 CENSUS FUNDS BY $1 BILLION;
FOCUS TURNS TO FY09 & FY10 BUDGETS
Plus: Commerce Secretary Nominee and Leading
Contender for Census Director Withdraw; and more.
The “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009” (Public Law 111-5)
that President Obama signed into law on February 17 includes $1 billion
to “ensure a successful 2010 Decennial” census, according to the
explanation accompanying the compromise package. The final measure
omitted language in the Senate-passed version of the bill that would
have required the Census Bureau to spend the funds by the end of fiscal
year 2010, several months before the census is finished.
Report language explaining the $789 billion conference bill (House
Report 111-16) says that the $1 billion should be used to “hire
additional personnel, provide required training, increase targeted media
purchases, and improve management of other operational and programmatic
risks.” Appropriators directed the Census Bureau to spend “up to” $250
million for the Partnership Program and outreach to “minority
communities and hard-to-reach populations.”
Several members of Congress specifically praised the inclusion of money
for the census in the stimulus package. In an article posted on
Politico.com (Feb. 12, 2009), Rep. Mike Honda (D-CA), chair of the
Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus (CAPAC), Rep. Barbara Lee
(D-CA), chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and Rep. Nydia
Velazquez (D-NY), chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC),
praised the Obama Administration for its support of an additional $1
billion for the census, which the lawmakers said would “instantly go
toward job creation across the country in the next two years and will be
crucial to ensuring an accurate count.”
The Census Bureau has said that it will use the stimulus funds to
recruit as many as 2,000 additional Partnership Specialists this year
($120 million) and expand advertising, especially in areas with
historically low mail response rates ($100 million). It is less clear
how the Census Bureau will apply the remaining stimulus money to improve
census operations in 2010.
Congress turns attention to funding for current and next fiscal years:
Congress must now complete action on regular appropriations bills for
Fiscal Year 2009 (FY2009), which began on October 1, 2008. Most federal
agencies, including the Census Bureau, are operating under a Continuing
Resolution (Public Law 110-329) that expires on March 6. The temporary
funding measure, which left many agencies operating at 2008 spending
levels, included an exception for the 2010 census, allocating the full
$2.9 billion the Administration had requested to carry out final
preparations for the decennial count (under the Periodic Censuses and
Programs account). Congress must reaffirm that amount, or approve
another funding level, in the final appropriation for FY2009.
Congress also will begin considering appropriations for Fiscal Year
2010, which begins on October 1, 2009, when President Obama releases his
budget request for the federal government this Thursday. Historically,
the Census Bureau has requested roughly one-half of the census lifecycle
cost in the year it conducts the count. Last spring, the Commerce
Department estimated that the 2010 census would cost $13.7 - $14.5
billion for the full cycle of testing, planning, and implementation.
Top positions at Commerce and Census Bureau remain unfilled: Sen. Judd
Gregg (R-NH), the President’s second nominee for Secretary of the
Department of Commerce, which includes the Census Bureau, withdrew from
consideration for the post earlier this month. In a statement he
released on February 12, Sen. Gregg said that he had “found that on
issues such as the stimulus package and the Census there are
irresolvable conflicts for me. Prior to accepting this post, we had
discussed these and other potential differences, but unfortunately we
did not adequately focus on these concerns.”
While a number of news editorials suggested that controversy over the
role the White House would play in overseeing the 2010 census was a
significant factor in the nominee’s decision to pull out, Sen. Gregg
said at a news conference the same day that the census dispute was “a
slight issue” for him and “was not a major issue.”
In discussing his withdrawal from consideration as Commerce Secretary,
Sen. Gregg told an interviewer on CNBC (Feb. 13, 2009) that the
Administration was prepared to select Dr. Kenneth Prewitt, Census
Director during the 2000 count, as the new head of the Census Bureau.
Sen. Gregg, who chaired the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that
funded the Census Bureau during the last count, said of Dr. Prewitt, “I
think he did an excellent job.”
However, late last week, several on-line news sources, including a New
York Times podcast, reported that Dr. Prewitt, currently a professor at
Columbia University, has withdrawn his name from consideration for the
top Census post.
Lawmakers highlight concerns about census: Two House members
responsible for oversight of the Census Bureau urged the prompt
appointment of a Census Director, saying in a joint February 12
statement, “We need to have a Census Bureau director nominated and
confirmed as soon as possible.” Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-NY), chairman of
the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, and Rep. William Lacy
Clay (D-MO), who chairs the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census,
and National Archives, expressed deep concern about the status of
planning for the 2010 census. ““The Obama Administration inherited a
Census Bureau that has failed to demonstrate its ability to successfully
carry out the 2010 Census. We are deeply concerned that the Census
Bureau will not be able to complete its constitutionally mandated
responsibility to count U.S. residents without immediate and sustained
attention from the Administration,” the representatives warned. They
said they are “committed to strict bipartisan oversight” of the census
“so that the fairest assessment of the American population is reported.”
On February 12, House Republican leaders held a press conference to
announce the formation of a Census Task Force to “examine all issues of
the 2010 census.” Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) said in a news
release, “The American people expect the Census to be fair, impartial,
and free of politics. … If this process is controlled by political
operatives at the White House, instead of experts and statisticians at
the Census Bureau, Americans are right to lose confidence in it.”
A day earlier, Boehner and other Republican members had sent a letter to
President Obama, expressing concern about what they viewed as
politicization of the census (see February 11 Census News Brief).
Also at the press conference, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), the senior
Republican on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, said the
Administration’s “[c]ommanding the Census Director to report directly to
the White House is a naked political power grab and transparently
partisan. There is only one possible reason for it – political
interference in the 2010 census and partisan manipulation of the
results.” The congressman said Republicans would consider a lawsuit
against the Administration over the line of authority between the White
House, the Commerce Department, and the Census Bureau.
Rep. Issa noted “the need for an independent Census Bureau” and that
“every living former Census Director is on record supporting an
independent Census Bureau,” referring to a letter the directors wrote
last year in support of a bill Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) sponsored to
establish the U.S. Census Bureau as an independent federal agency. No
Republicans co-sponsored the “Restoring the Integrity of American
Statistics Act of 2008” (H.R. 7069, 110th Congress), which Rep. Maloney
said she will reintroduce shortly.
Rep. Maloney, a member of the census oversight subcommittee, called the
Republican press event “a show about nothing.” She noted that the White
House had issued a statement clarifying its intended role in overseeing
the census and quoted spokesman Benjamin LaBolt as saying that the
Administration “has not proposed removing the census from the Department
of Commerce, and the same congressional committees that had oversight
during the previous administration will retain that authority.” Rep.
Maloney called “the Bush Administration’s woefully inadequate planning
and preparation for the next census” the “only true political
machinations” surrounding the census.
Seven legislators, representing three House committees with jurisdiction
over the census, reapportionment, and redistricting, will serve on the
Republican Census Task Force: Reps. Lynn Westmoreland (GA), who will
chair the Task Force, Darrell Issa (CA), and Patrick McHenry (NC), from
the Oversight and Government Reform Committee; Reps. Lamar Smith (TX)
and James Sensenbrenner (WI), from the House Judiciary Committee; and
Reps. Dan Lungren (CA) and Gregg Harper (MS), from the House
Administration Committee.
The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
(NALEO), a member of the 2010 Census Advisory Committee, said in a
statement, “We applaud the Obama Administration for making a full and
fair 2010 Census a priority, and we welcome the Republican Task Force to
the bipartisan conversation on this vital issue.”
----------
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
FYI--This was passed along to me this morning and it is certainly an
important topic. Besides, its not everyday you can get up and find so
much news about the Census Bureau "above the fold" in your newspaper.
_____
From: wendell cox [mailto:demographia@gmail.com]
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 7:13 PM
To: #DemoGoogle
Subject: Don't Politicize the Census Bureau
http://www.newgeography.com/content/00587-dont-politicize-census-bureau
DON'T POLITICIZE THE CENSUS BUREAU
by Wendell Cox 02/13/2009
The recent decision by the Obama Administration to place the Census
under the control of the White House represents a danger - not only to
the integrity of the process but to the underlying assumptions that
drive policy in a representative democracy. It is something that smacks
of the worst anti-scientific views of the far right, or the casual
political manipulation of the facts one expects in places like Russia or
Iran.
Let me be clear: I love the Bureau of the Census. I have been an avid
consumer of its data since the second grade. I used to wait with
anticipation for the decennial results - the 10 year population counts
for states, counties and cities. Anyone who has spent any time on the
Demographia websites knows the respect with which I treat Census data.
The United States established one of the first regular censuses and it
has been conducted every 10 years since 1790. The United Kingdom
followed in 1801 and France in 1807, though both nations suspended their
counts during World War II.
Over the past couple of decades, the Bureau of the Census has made
annual estimates widely available, so it was no longer necessary to wait
for the 10 year results. This was an important step in the right
direction for people interested in demographics. But, there was a more
basic purpose than amusing people who make their living with numbers. As
federal programs that allocate money to local jurisdictions based upon
their population have become more widespread, interim annual census
estimates became a necessity.
Before the interim estimates, all sorts of "cheerleading" estimates were
published, like the more than 1,000,000 population estimate I discovered
for Washington, DC in the 1950s (the city never exceeded 800,000 by
much). The great thing about the Bureau of the Census was that you could
trust the numbers.
Trust and accuracy were precisely what the framers had in mind when they
wrote the regular decennial Census enumeration (count) into the US
Constitution. The principal purpose, of course, was to apportion seats
in the House of Representatives. A genuine democracy depends on ensuring
all are represented equally and thus depends upon the integrity of its
census.
Recently, however, the process has become ever more politicized. The
Bureau of the Census has allowed counties, cities and other local
jurisdictions to challenge their annual census estimates. The incentive,
of course, is that if the challenge results in a higher population
estimate (and it can be expected that no jurisdiction challenges an
estimate it feels is too high), more federal money is the reward.
I became aware of the problem in watching the recently developing annual
challenge ritual by the nearby city of St. Louis, which has lost more of
its population than any city since the Romans sacked Carthage. No large
local jurisdiction in the world, not even New Orleans, has lost as much
of its population as St. Louis, which has experienced a 60 percent
decline since 1950.
So not surprisingly, the city of St. Louis has become a frequent
challenger. St. Louis has successfully challenged the Bureau of the
Census estimate of its population five of the seven years from 2001 to
2007 (the most recent estimate). The total of additions from census
challenges adds up to 43,000 people. This is a not insubstantial 12.4
percent relative to the approximately 348,000 2000 Census count for the
city.
I began to wonder what the success rate was in census challenges. I
asked the appropriate Bureau of the Census officials for a list of
rejected challenges. The quick and polite response was "We do not have a
list of the rejected challenges." This seemed a strange answer, since
the Bureau of the Census website
<http://www.census.gov/popest/archives/challenges.html>
lists all of the successful challenges. Moreover, my internet search for
news stories about rejections of census challenge rejections yielded
nothing.
I performed an analysis of the successful challenges posted on the
internet. Approximately 200 general purpose local jurisdictions have
filed challenges. Nearly 40,000 have not.
Many of the upheld challenges are in large urban cores, such as 236,000
in the city of New York and more than 100,000 in Atlanta's core Fulton
County. Among the larger jurisdictions, Fulton County added the largest
to its 2000 population by challenges, at 13.5 percent.
However, the challenges are by no means limited to urban cores. Salt
Lake City suburbs West Valley City, West Jordan and Sandy challenged
their counts, but not core city Salt Lake City. Nearby Provo, no urban
jungle, had the largest addition to its population of any jurisdiction
over 100,000 population, at 15.2 percent. The Bureau of the Census
missed about 2,000 residents between Skokie and Hoffman Estates,
headquarters of Sears Roebuck, but not a one in nearby Chicago, which
has 25 times as many people as the two suburban jurisdictions combined.
Overall, 47 jurisdictions with more than 100,000 population in 2000 have
successfully challenged census estimates, many in more than one year.
The total population addition from these challenges is 1.24 million,
though there may be some duplication in city and county numbers.
Overall, the census challenges have added a total of nearly 1,600,000
people, which is likely, with duplications, to exceed the population of
two Congressional districts. All of the challenging jurisdictions
combined had a population of less than 35 million in 2000, or less than
15 percent of the population.
All of this raises questions. Beyond the questions about rejected
challenges, if there have been any, are fundamental questions about
Bureau of the Census methods. How can it be that the Census misses by so
many people? Why did it presumably miss 15 percent of the population in
Provo, 3 percent in New York City and 30 percent in Bazine City, Kansas,
while apparently being so accurate in the remaining 85 percent of the
nation that no one was missed?
Why was the Bureau of the Census estimate so erroneous in New York,
Boston and San Francisco, yet so accurate in Los Angeles, Philadelphia
and Phoenix, where there were no errors?
Then there is the more fundamental question - have there been any
rejections?
It is possible that everything is on the "up and up" with respect to the
Bureau of the Census challenge program. On the other hand, there appears
to be plenty of potential for mischief, as some jurisdictions have
become experts at challenging and the Bureau may find rejections
difficult, given the pressure that could be received from members of
Congress.
But politicization of the Census is a terrible risk. That's why the
Obama administration's decision to move authority for the Census to the
White House from the Department of Commerce is so concerning. It is hard
to imagine a function of government so crucial to the genuine working of
democracy becoming subject to the whims of people like White House chief
of staff, Rahm Emmanuel - or down the road to a similarly partisan
figure in the other party, like a Karl Rove.
The good news is that a bill introduced by New York Democratic
Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney would assure the census's integrity.
Last year, she introduced the "Restoring the Integrity of American
Statistics Act of 2008," with co-sponsors Henry Gonzales of Texas, Henry
Waxman of California and William Clay of Missouri. Congresswoman
Maloney's bill would remove the Bureau of the Census from the Department
of Commerce and establish it as an independent federal agency, insulated
from the political process. According to the Congresswoman:
This action will be a clear signal to Americans that the agency they
depend upon for unbiased monthly economic data as well as the important
decennial portrait of our nation is independent, fair, and protected
from interference.
The bill
http://maloney.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1720&Ite…
has been endorsed by all seven living former directors of the Bureau
of the Census, appointed by Presidents Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan,
Clinton and both Bushes.
This is the direction we need to go. The Administration has made much of
its commitment to science and open inquiry. Preserving the sanctity of
the census process would seem to confirm that commitment. In contrast,
putting it under the control of White House political operatives
represents a brazen act of political gamesmanship and a shameful turn in
the wrong direction. It is to be hoped that the rising political
firestorm and the
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123447333424979131.html?mod=djemalertN%20EWS
recent withdrawal of Senator Judd Gregg from consideration for the post
of Commerce Secretary might lead to a policy reversal.
Wendell Cox is a Visiting Professor, Conservatoire National des Arts et
Metiers, Paris. He was born in Los Angeles and was appointed to three
terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission by Mayor Tom
--
Ed Christopher
708-283-3534 (V)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FHWA RC-TST-PLN
19900 Governors Dr
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
I haven't been able to look at this yet, too busy celebrating Abe
Lincoln's 200 birthday, but I thought I would get it out to folks. Not
sure if there are any changes or not.
-----------
OMB proposed changes to the 2000 Standards for Defining Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Areas
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-2978.pdf
------------
--
Ed Christopher
708-283-3534 (V)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FHWA RC-TST-PLN
19900 Governors Dr
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
CENSUS FUNDS SURVIVE IN STIMULUS BILL
Plus: White House Clarifies Role in 2010 Census, While Republicans
Express Growing “Alarm;”
and more.
House and Senate negotiators reportedly have reached an agreement on a
$789 billion economic stimulus package that includes $1 billion for
expanded 2010 census operations. Details about how the Census Bureau
should spend the funds are not yet available, although both House and
Senate appropriators emphasized the need to target historically
hard-to-count communities in their respective committee reports.
The U.S. Senate gave final approval yesterday (61 – 37) to its $838
billion version of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”
after adopting a substitute amendment sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins
(R-ME) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NB). The Collins-Nelson amendment
allocated $1 billion for enhanced 2010 census operations and specified
that the funds would be available until September 30, 2010, a
restriction the $819 billion House version of the bill did not include.
Before suspending consideration of the original stimulus proposal (H.R.
1) last week, Senators rejected (39 – 57) yet another amendment, offered
by Sens. Graham (R-SC) and Conrad (D-ND), which would have eliminated
funds for the census.
Controvery continues over line of authority for census: Republicans on
the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Rep. Marsha Blackburn
(R-TN), today sent a letter to the panel’s leadership, requesting a
hearing to “investigate potential politicization of the U.S. Census
Bureau.” The letter, addressed to committee Chairman Henry Waxman
(D-CA) and Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX) and signed by all 22
committee Republicans, follows press reports last week that the White
House planned to assume direct responsibility for the 2010 census after
some stakeholders expressed concern about Commerce Secretary-designate
Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) past positions on the decennial count. (See
February 5th Census News Brief.)
Committee Republicans said they were “alarmed to learn that senior White
House officials are contemplating a plan to change the management and
reporting structure of the Census Bureau,” referring to a report in
Congressional Quarterly last week that the Census Director would have a
“direct line to the White House.” This “change in management,” the
lawmakers wrote, “may jeopardize the important and non-partisan work
product of a sensitive administrative agency, and potentially disrupt
completion of a competent, reliable 2010 census.” The White House
sought to clarify its original statement last week by saying the Census
Director would “work closely” with, not report to, senior Administration
staff, and that the director “works for the Commerce Secretary and the
president.”
The White House today issued a second clarification of its intended role
in the next census, according to an Associated Press article. AP writer
Erica Werner quoted White House spokesman Benjamin LaBolt as saying the
Administration “has not proposed removing the census from the Department
of Commerce, and the same congressional committees that had oversight
during the previous administration will retain that authority.”
However, House Republican Leader John Boehner, joined by other party and
committee leaders in the House, sent a letter to President Obama, urging
him to “reconsider and reverse this controversial and harmful course of
action,” which Rep. Boehner called a “White House census takeover.”
“Placing the census under control of political operatives,” the letter
said, would result in “unprecedented politicization of the census and
open the door to massive waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer
funds” used to allocate federal program funds. The AP reported that
House Republicans plan to hold a press conference on Thursday to discuss
their concerns and announce formation of a Census Task Force, which will
be chaired by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), a member of the census
oversight subcommittee.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has not
announced a date for Sen. Gregg’s confirmation hearing.
Senate panel plans census oversight hearing: The Senate Subcommittee on
Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services,
and International Security, chaired by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), will
hold its first census oversight hearing of the 111th Congress on
Thursday, March 5, at 2:30 PM, in room 342 Dirksen Senate Office
Building. The hearing, titled “Lessons Learned: How the New
Administration Can Achieve an Accurate and Cost-Effective 2010 Census,”
will take an historical look at the census and examine the challenges
facing the Census Bureau heading into 2010, including ensuring accurate
funding, timely appointment of a Census Director, and problems with
management of IT systems that “threaten to undermine the accuracy of
Census 2010,” according to the panel’s press release. The subcommittee
has not yet announced witnesses. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) is the new
ranking minority member on the panel.
More committee assignments for the 111th Congress: Republicans on the
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have made subcommittee
assignments for the 111th Congress. The Subcommittee on Information
Policy, Census, and National Archives is responsible for oversight of
the Census Bureau and authorization of Census Bureau activities.
(Democratic members of the subcommittee are listed in the February 5th
Census News Brief.)
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
(Republican Members)
Ranking Member: Patrick McHenry, NC
Lynn Westmoreland, GA
John Mica, FL
Jason Chaffetz, UT
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
CENSUS FUNDS SURVIVE
IN STIMULUS BILL
Plus: White House Clarifies Role in 2010 Census, While Republicans
Express Growing “Alarm;”
and more.
House and Senate negotiators reportedly have reached an agreement on a
$789 billion economic stimulus package that includes $1 billion for
expanded 2010 census operations. Details about how the Census Bureau
should spend the funds are not yet available, although both House and
Senate appropriators emphasized the need to target historically
hard-to-count communities in their respective committee reports.
The U.S. Senate gave final approval yesterday (61 – 37) to its $838
billion version of the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009”
after adopting a substitute amendment sponsored by Sen. Susan Collins
(R-ME) and Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NB). The Collins-Nelson amendment
allocated $1 billion for enhanced 2010 census operations and specified
that the funds would be available until September 30, 2010, a
restriction the $819 billion House version of the bill did not include.
Before suspending consideration of the original stimulus proposal (H.R.
1) last week, Senators rejected (39 – 57) yet another amendment, offered
by Sens. Graham (R-SC) and Conrad (D-ND), which would have eliminated
funds for the census.
Controvery continues over line of authority for census: Republicans on
the House Energy and Commerce Committee, led by Rep. Marsha Blackburn
(R-TN), today sent a letter to the panel’s leadership, requesting a
hearing to “investigate potential politicization of the U.S. Census
Bureau.” The letter, addressed to committee Chairman Henry Waxman
(D-CA) and Ranking Member Joe Barton (R-TX) and signed by all 22
committee Republicans, follows press reports last week that the White
House planned to assume direct responsibility for the 2010 census after
some stakeholders expressed concern about Commerce Secretary-designate
Judd Gregg’s (R-NH) past positions on the decennial count. (See
February 5th Census News Brief.)
Committee Republicans said they were “alarmed to learn that senior White
House officials are contemplating a plan to change the management and
reporting structure of the Census Bureau,” referring to a report in
Congressional Quarterly last week that the Census Director would have a
“direct line to the White House.” This “change in management,” the
lawmakers wrote, “may jeopardize the important and non-partisan work
product of a sensitive administrative agency, and potentially disrupt
completion of a competent, reliable 2010 census.” The White House
sought to clarify its original statement last week by saying the Census
Director would “work closely” with, not report to, senior Administration
staff, and that the director “works for the Commerce Secretary and the
president.”
The White House today issued a second clarification of its intended role
in the next census, according to an Associated Press article. AP writer
Erica Werner quoted White House spokesman Benjamin LaBolt as saying the
Administration “has not proposed removing the census from the Department
of Commerce, and the same congressional committees that had oversight
during the previous administration will retain that authority.”
However, House Republican Leader John Boehner, joined by other party and
committee leaders in the House, sent a letter to President Obama, urging
him to “reconsider and reverse this controversial and harmful course of
action,” which Rep. Boehner called a “White House census takeover.”
“Placing the census under control of political operatives,” the letter
said, would result in “unprecedented politicization of the census and
open the door to massive waste and abuse in the expenditure of taxpayer
funds” used to allocate federal program funds. The AP reported that
House Republicans plan to hold a press conference on Thursday to discuss
their concerns and announce formation of a Census Task Force, which will
be chaired by Rep. Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA), a member of the census
oversight subcommittee.
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation has not
announced a date for Sen. Gregg’s confirmation hearing.
Senate panel plans census oversight hearing: The Senate Subcommittee on
Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services,
and International Security, chaired by Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), will
hold its first census oversight hearing of the 111th Congress on
Thursday, March 5, at 2:30 PM, in room 342 Dirksen Senate Office
Building. The hearing, titled “Lessons Learned: How the New
Administration Can Achieve an Accurate and Cost-Effective 2010 Census,”
will take an historical look at the census and examine the challenges
facing the Census Bureau heading into 2010, including ensuring accurate
funding, timely appointment of a Census Director, and problems with
management of IT systems that “threaten to undermine the accuracy of
Census 2010,” according to the panel’s press release. The subcommittee
has not yet announced witnesses. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) is the ranking
minority member on the panel.
More committee assignments for the 111th Congress: Republicans on the
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee have made subcommittee
assignments for the 111th Congress. The Subcommittee on Information
Policy, Census, and National Archives is responsible for oversight of
the Census Bureau and authorization of Census Bureau activities.
(Democratic members of the subcommittee are listed in the February 5th
Census News Brief.)
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
(Republican Members)
Ranking Member: Patrick McHenry, NC
Lynn Westmoreland, GA
John Mica, FL
Jason Chaffetz, UT
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
708-283-3534 (V)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FHWA RC-TST-PLN
19900 Governors Dr
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
CONCERNS ABOUT GREGG ON CENSUS PROMPT WHITE HOUSE TO ASSERT
AUTHORITY; REPUBLICANS CHARGE POLITICIZATION OF CENSUS COUNT
Plus: Senate continues stimulus spending debate; 111th Congress
continues to organize.
Responding to concerns from key census stakeholders about the
President’s nominee for Commerce Secretary, Obama Administration
officials said the Census Director would report directly to the White
House, according to an article by Jonathan Allen in today’s
Congressional Quarterly. A posting by Philip Rucker on The Washington
Post Blog subsequently quoted a White House statement as saying: “From
the first days of the transition the Census has been a priority for the
president, and a process he wanted to reevaluate. There is historic
precedent for the director of the Census, who works for the commerce
secretary and the president, to work closely with White House senior
management, given the number of decisions that will have to be put
before the president. We plan to return to that model in this
administration."
It was not clear from the Administration’s statement whether the Census
Director would bypass the Commerce Secretary only on matters related to
the 2010 census or on all Census Bureau activities.
Republican leaders on the House Oversight and Government Reform
Committee, which has jurisdiction over the census, called the
Administration’s plan a “power grab to politicize [the] census.” Rep.
Darrell Issa (R-CA), the committee’s senior Republican member, and Rep.
Patrick McHenry (R-NC), the new ranking minority member on the
committee’s census oversight panel, said in a statement: “President
Obama’s calls for bipartisanship are severely damaged when reports
indicate they’re maneuvering to stab Republicans in the back through a
national gerrymander orchestrated directly by the White House.”
In a letter to the President, the lawmakers said they were “shocked and
dismayed” by the White House’s statement on the census. “Requiring the
Census Director to report directly to White House Chief of Staff Rahm
Emanuel is a shamefully transparent attempt by your Administration to
politicize the Census Bureau and manipulate the 2010 Census.” Rahm
Emanuel is a former Democratic member of Congress and former head of the
Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Reps. Issa and McHenry
also suggested that having the Census Director report directly to the
White House might violate the Census Act (Title 13, United States Code),
which places the Census Bureau under the jurisdiction of the Department
of Commerce.
President Obama nominated Senator Judd Gregg (R-NH) to head the Commerce
Department, which houses the U.S. Census Bureau, earlier this week. As
reported in the February 3, 2009 Census News Brief, Sen. Gregg chaired
the Appropriations subcommittee that funded the Census Bureau during the
2000 census and objected to an “emergency” appropriation of $1.7 billion
that the Clinton Administration requested after a 1999 Supreme Court
ruling forced a redesign of the census.
The nomination prompted some census stakeholders to express concern
about the Senator’s commitment to ensuring an accurate 2010 census.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA), chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus,
issued a statement saying, in part, “[S]en. Gregg’s record of previously
voting to abolish the Commerce Department and his attempts to block
President Bill Clinton’s efforts to secure adequate funding for the 2000
census raise troubling concerns regarding his commitment to the
department’s core missions.” The National Association of Latino Elected
and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a member of the Census Bureau’s 2010
Census Advisory Committee, said in a statement that Sen. Gregg’s “record
raises serious questions about his willingness to ensure that the 2010
Census produces the most accurate possible count of the nation’s
population. … NALEO will be closely monitoring the confirmation process
to learn more about Secretary-Designate Gregg’s view of the Department’s
responsibility to conduct an accurate census.”
Amendments target extra funds for census in stimulus bill: The U.S.
Senate continued consideration of the “American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act of 2009” today, after defeating at least one amendment
that would have stripped funds for the 2010 census from the measure.
Yesterday, by a vote of 32 – 65, senators rejected an amendment offered
by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) to “eliminate unnecessary spending” in the
stimulus bill, including $1 billion for 250,000 additional census
takers, more partnership specialists, and increased outreach and promotion.
In a statement explaining his amendment, Sen. Vitter called the 2010
census a “bottomless pit,” noting that Congress allocated additional
funds for the census last year after the Census Bureau dropped plans to
use handheld computers for door-to-door visits to unresponsive
households. The proposed funding, the senator said, “is not job
creation … it is not economic stimulus. … [It] is run-of-the-mill,
Washington-big-Government spending,” suggesting that Congress should
debate the need for more money at another time.
Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) decided not to offer an amendment to eliminate
the census funds from the stimulus bill. Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK),
ranking Republican on the Census Bureau’s oversight subcommittee,
reportedly was still considering such an amendment.
111th Congress continues to organize: Congressional committees continue
to organize for the 111th Congress. Democrats on the House Oversight
and Government Reform Committee have made subcommittee assignments for
the 111th Congress. The Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and
National Archives is responsible for oversight of the Census Bureau and
authorization of Census Bureau activities. Republicans are expected to
announce their subcommittee assignments by next week; Rep. Patrick
McHenry will be the new ranking Republican member on the census
oversight panel.
House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives
(Democratic Members)
Chair: William Lacy Clay, Missouri
Paul Kanjorski, Pennsylvania
Carolyn Maloney, New York
Eleanor Holmes Norton, District of Columbia
Danny Davis, Illinois
Steve Driehaus, Ohio
Diane Watson, California
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
708-283-3534 (V)
708-574-8131 (cell)
FHWA RC-TST-PLN
19900 Governors Dr
Olympia Fields, IL 60461
Please remember that Gregg is nominated for Secretary of Commerce,
not for Census Bureau Director. We have no nominee for that position
right now.
I doubt that the Secretary of Commerce would read this
listserv. However, you might want to direct questions to the members
of the Senate committee which will be holding his confirmation
hearing. A list of those folks is attached. If any of them is from
your state, contact him or her with questions for Sen. Gregg would be useful.
Patty Becker
At 11:26 AM 2/4/2009, you wrote:
>One idea might be to let your state FHWA coordinators or someone who
>can ask Senator Gregg if he is interested in being part of this
>listserve. If so, we could precede to inform from that direction.
>
>Angie Byrne
>Transportation Planner
>Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Organization
>Western Arkansas Planning and Development District
>1109 S. 16th St., P.O. Box 2067
>Fort Smith, Arkansas 72902
>(479) 785-2651
>abyrne(a)wapdd.org <mailto:abyrne@wapdd.org>
>www.bistatempo.org <http://www.bistatempo.org>
>
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net
>[mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net]On Behalf Of Nancy Reger
>Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:28 PM
>To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
>Subject: RE: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
>
>
>Should we do anything--- ie say, welcome to Director Gregg and tell
>him how we use this data in the econ devt and transportation world
>as a community or just go solo?
>
>
>Nancy Reger, AICP
>Assistant Director, Transportation
>Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission
>111 Liberty St; Ste 100 / Cols OH 43215
>(p) 614-233-4154 / (e) nreger(a)morpc.org
>
>
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net
>[mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Ed Christopher
>Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:16 AM
>To: ctpp-news maillist
>Subject: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
>
>PRESIDENT SELECTS SEN. GREGG FOR COMMERCE SECRETARY;
>SENATE CONSIDERS $1B FOR CENSUS IN STIMULUS BILL
>Plus: House Passes Stimulus Funds for Census
>
>
>President Obama has selected Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New
>Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary. The post would give Sen. Gregg
>authority over the Census Bureau and upcoming decennial census. The
>Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department's Economics and
>Statistics Administration (ESA), which also houses the Bureau of
>Economic Analysis (BEA).
>
>Sen. Gregg, a three-term senator, former representative, and former New
>Hampshire governor, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget
>Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee. He is a member
>and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
>Science (formerly Commerce, Justice, and State), which funds the Census
>Bureau. The biography posted on his official web site highlights his
>interest in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
>another large Commerce Department agency.
>
>Sen. Gregg chaired the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
>Justice, and State during the 2000 census. In 1999, he questioned the
>Administration's request for additional census funding for fiscal year
>2000; the Census Bureau had asked for an extra $1.7 billion after a
>Supreme Court decision forced it to redesign non-response follow-up
>operations. The House of Representatives had approved the full $4.5
>billion for the census year, while the Senate allocated the $2.8 billion
>the Administration had sought before the Court ruling in a case
>challenging the use of sampling to compile census population counts used
>for congressional apportionment. Sen. Gregg especially questioned the
>House's proposal to designate all census funding for 2000 as "emergency"
>spending, which would remove the allocation from under tight budget
>caps. The impasse over census funding helped delay passage of final
>spending bills for 2000; Congress eventually approved the full funding
>request, designating the entire amount as an "emergency."
>
>The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold
>confirmation hearings for Sen. Gregg, while the Homeland Security and
>Governmental Affairs Committee will be responsible for confirming a
>Census director. President Obama has not yet nominated an Under
>Secretary for Economic Affairs, who oversees the ESA, or Census Bureau
>director; both positions require Senate confirmation.
>
>Economic stimulus bill includes extra funds for 2010 census: On January
>28, by a vote of 244 - 188, the U.S. House of Representatives approved
>an $819 economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1) that includes $1 billion in
>additional funds for the 2010 census. No Republican lawmakers supported
>the bill.
>
>The stimulus package requested by President Obama is also working its
>way through the U.S. Senate. Last week, the Committee on Appropriations
>approved its own version of the economic recovery package (S. 336),
>which includes $1 billion for the 2010 census. The funds would be
>available until September 30, 2010. The Census Bureau is required by
>law to report state population totals to the President by December 31,
>2010, and detailed populations counts to the states for redistricting
>purposes by April 1, 2011.
>
>Committee report language (S. Rept. 111-3) directs the Census Bureau to
>use $780 million to hire more census takers "to count underserved
>communities"; $120 million to expand the Partnership Program, "with
>specific focus being placed on hard to reach populations"; and $100
>million to increase outreach and promotion "to minority communities."
>Appropriators suggested that the Census Bureau hire additional staff who
>are experienced with partnership programs and are trusted community
>leaders who can convey the importance of participating in the census to
>"hard to reach" populations.
>
>The full Senate is considering the package this week. Amendments to
>strip or reduce some of the funding from the bill, including the
>proposed $1 billion for the 2010 census, are possible.
>
>The House version of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
>2009" does not lay out as many specific dollar amounts for spending the
>additional money, instead saying more broadly that the Census Bureau
>should "hire additional personnel, provide required training, increase
>targeted media purchases, and improve management of other operational
>and programmatic risks to ensure a successful decennial." The Census
>Bureau should use $150 million for "expanded communications and outreach
>programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups," according to the
>House Appropriations committee.
>
>An analysis of the economic stimulus package by Robert Santos of the
>Urban Institute, a Washington, DC think-tank, concludes that the
>proposed spending for the 2010 census "would provide an infusion of new
>jobs, better community participation and a more accurate census." Dr.
>Santos calls the census "a shovel-ready infrastructure project," a
>reference to one of President Obama's criteria for including projects in
>a stimulus package. The analysis is available on-line at
>http://www.urban.org/issues/recovery.cfm#santos.
>
>Senator urges quick appointment of Census Director: Senator Thomas
>Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial
>Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International
>Security (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), sent
>a letter to President Obama on January 28, urging him to "move quickly
>to fill the top leadership at the Commerce Department and the Census
>Bureau with individuals with the knowledge and the management skills
>necessary to get the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Census back on
>track for good." The chairman said that "serious challenges in managing
>key information technology activities" and reduced spending on
>advertising and outreach have led the Government Accountability Office
>(GAO) to designate the 2010 census as a "high risk" federal program.
>Sen. Carper called on the President to make the "overall success [of the
>census] a top priority of your Administration."
>
>The Federal Financial Management panel has tentatively scheduled an
>oversight hearing for February 25 to review the status of planning for
>the 2010 census.
>
>Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
>the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
>Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
>about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
>TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
>other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
>Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
>
>--
>Ed Christopher
>Resource Center Planning Team
>Federal Highway Administration
>19900 Governors Drive
>Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
>708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
>708-283-3501 (F)
>
>_______________________________________________
>ctpp-news mailing list
>ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
>http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
>
>_______________________________________________
>ctpp-news mailing list
>ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
>http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
>
>_______________________________________________
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Patricia C. (Patty) Becker 248/354-6520
APB Associates/SEMCC FAX 248/354-6645
28300 Franklin Road Home 248/355-2428
Southfield, MI 48034 pbecker(a)umich.edu
One idea might be to let your state FHWA coordinators or someone who can ask Senator Gregg if he is interested in being part of this listserve. If so, we could precede to inform from that direction.
Angie Byrne
Transportation Planner
Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Organization
Western Arkansas Planning and Development District
1109 S. 16th St., P.O. Box 2067
Fort Smith, Arkansas 72902
(479) 785-2651
abyrne(a)wapdd.org <mailto:abyrne@wapdd.org>
www.bistatempo.org <http://www.bistatempo.org>
-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net
[mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net]On Behalf Of Nancy Reger
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:28 PM
To: ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
Subject: RE: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
Should we do anything--- ie say, welcome to Director Gregg and tell him how we use this data in the econ devt and transportation world as a community or just go solo?
Nancy Reger, AICP
Assistant Director, Transportation
Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission
111 Liberty St; Ste 100 / Cols OH 43215
(p) 614-233-4154 / (e) nreger(a)morpc.org
-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces(a)chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Ed Christopher
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:16 AM
To: ctpp-news maillist
Subject: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
PRESIDENT SELECTS SEN. GREGG FOR COMMERCE SECRETARY;
SENATE CONSIDERS $1B FOR CENSUS IN STIMULUS BILL
Plus: House Passes Stimulus Funds for Census
President Obama has selected Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New
Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary. The post would give Sen. Gregg
authority over the Census Bureau and upcoming decennial census. The
Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department's Economics and
Statistics Administration (ESA), which also houses the Bureau of
Economic Analysis (BEA).
Sen. Gregg, a three-term senator, former representative, and former New
Hampshire governor, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget
Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee. He is a member
and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
Science (formerly Commerce, Justice, and State), which funds the Census
Bureau. The biography posted on his official web site highlights his
interest in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
another large Commerce Department agency.
Sen. Gregg chaired the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
Justice, and State during the 2000 census. In 1999, he questioned the
Administration's request for additional census funding for fiscal year
2000; the Census Bureau had asked for an extra $1.7 billion after a
Supreme Court decision forced it to redesign non-response follow-up
operations. The House of Representatives had approved the full $4.5
billion for the census year, while the Senate allocated the $2.8 billion
the Administration had sought before the Court ruling in a case
challenging the use of sampling to compile census population counts used
for congressional apportionment. Sen. Gregg especially questioned the
House's proposal to designate all census funding for 2000 as "emergency"
spending, which would remove the allocation from under tight budget
caps. The impasse over census funding helped delay passage of final
spending bills for 2000; Congress eventually approved the full funding
request, designating the entire amount as an "emergency."
The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold
confirmation hearings for Sen. Gregg, while the Homeland Security and
Governmental Affairs Committee will be responsible for confirming a
Census director. President Obama has not yet nominated an Under
Secretary for Economic Affairs, who oversees the ESA, or Census Bureau
director; both positions require Senate confirmation.
Economic stimulus bill includes extra funds for 2010 census: On January
28, by a vote of 244 - 188, the U.S. House of Representatives approved
an $819 economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1) that includes $1 billion in
additional funds for the 2010 census. No Republican lawmakers supported
the bill.
The stimulus package requested by President Obama is also working its
way through the U.S. Senate. Last week, the Committee on Appropriations
approved its own version of the economic recovery package (S. 336),
which includes $1 billion for the 2010 census. The funds would be
available until September 30, 2010. The Census Bureau is required by
law to report state population totals to the President by December 31,
2010, and detailed populations counts to the states for redistricting
purposes by April 1, 2011.
Committee report language (S. Rept. 111-3) directs the Census Bureau to
use $780 million to hire more census takers "to count underserved
communities"; $120 million to expand the Partnership Program, "with
specific focus being placed on hard to reach populations"; and $100
million to increase outreach and promotion "to minority communities."
Appropriators suggested that the Census Bureau hire additional staff who
are experienced with partnership programs and are trusted community
leaders who can convey the importance of participating in the census to
"hard to reach" populations.
The full Senate is considering the package this week. Amendments to
strip or reduce some of the funding from the bill, including the
proposed $1 billion for the 2010 census, are possible.
The House version of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009" does not lay out as many specific dollar amounts for spending the
additional money, instead saying more broadly that the Census Bureau
should "hire additional personnel, provide required training, increase
targeted media purchases, and improve management of other operational
and programmatic risks to ensure a successful decennial." The Census
Bureau should use $150 million for "expanded communications and outreach
programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups," according to the
House Appropriations committee.
An analysis of the economic stimulus package by Robert Santos of the
Urban Institute, a Washington, DC think-tank, concludes that the
proposed spending for the 2010 census "would provide an infusion of new
jobs, better community participation and a more accurate census." Dr.
Santos calls the census "a shovel-ready infrastructure project," a
reference to one of President Obama's criteria for including projects in
a stimulus package. The analysis is available on-line at
http://www.urban.org/issues/recovery.cfm#santos.
Senator urges quick appointment of Census Director: Senator Thomas
Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial
Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International
Security (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), sent
a letter to President Obama on January 28, urging him to "move quickly
to fill the top leadership at the Commerce Department and the Census
Bureau with individuals with the knowledge and the management skills
necessary to get the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Census back on
track for good." The chairman said that "serious challenges in managing
key information technology activities" and reduced spending on
advertising and outreach have led the Government Accountability Office
(GAO) to designate the 2010 census as a "high risk" federal program.
Sen. Carper called on the President to make the "overall success [of the
census] a top priority of your Administration."
The Federal Financial Management panel has tentatively scheduled an
oversight hearing for February 25 to review the status of planning for
the 2010 census.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Please direct questions
about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations. Previous Census News
Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
--
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
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