HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
The fundamental problem is that almost no one (outside of us data
junkies) recognizes that data are infrastructure. Everyone expects
the information to be there when needed, but gives no thought to how
the data come into being--just like taking those sewers and roads for granted.
Patty Becker
At 01:56 PM 07/13/2006, you wrote:
There sure are some statements in the announcement that should give us
pause for consideration:
"Noting that the Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other
popular programs, Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the
Census Bureau."
"We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland security,
or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim Ramstad
(R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne grants, which
every law enforcement official in America is pleading for. Rep. Mark
Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of priorities. Right now, we
need more help on the streets with crime than we do in the Census
Bureau."
"The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised."
Now that's a tough choice: should moneys be used to focus on fighting
crime by fighting crime wherever you currently see it, or should moneys
be used to improve the underlying databases that will help Organizations
more efficiently deal with crime and dozens of other important topics of
national and local immediate AND longer-range interest? Somebody sure
needs to do a "truly comprehensive" long-term Cost/Benefit analysis of
federal programs. Fundamentally, the problem seems to be that "data
collection for multiple purposes" is just not a particularly exciting
(or popular) topic, and there are very few vocal champions whom people
are listening to--but that doesn't make it any less important to
society.
===============================
Patricia C. (Patty) Becker 248/354-6520
APB Associates/SEMCC FAX 248/354-6645
28300 Franklin Rd Home 248/355-2428
Southfield, MI 48034 pbecker(a)umich.edu
Please accept my apologies for the multiple messages that you got from
me. To the best of my knowledge I think it may have been due to a
glitch between my emailer and the internet connection I was using. I
was using a hotel wifi connection and my signal was very low--down to
one bar. The theory is that my connection was dropping and
reconnecting without me noticing it and my email was resetting and
resending the email. In my defense about all I can say is that I was
rushed to get the information and I did not make sure that I had a
stable connection.
Again, please accept my apologies and do not make this a reason to drop
the listserve. As we transition to the ACS it will become increasingly
more important that we maintain our channels of communication, share our
collective experience and make sure that we maximize its utility.
My figures are also crossed that the problem does not repeat itself with
this email but I feel that I needed to let people know what I think had
happened.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
_______________________________________________
ctpp-news mailing list
ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net
http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news
HOUSE CUTS $58.3M FROM CENSUS BUDGET; SENATE PANEL APPROVES $50M LESS
THAN BUSH REQUEST
PLUS: Hand-Held Computers in Census, and Group Quarters in ACS, at Risk,
Agency Says; Stakeholders Caution Lawmakers About Consequences of
Funding Shortfall; SIPP Funding Increased in House
The U.S. House of Representatives approved three amendments that would
cut a total of $58.3 million from the Census Bureaus 2007 budget before
passing the Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill
(H.R. 5672) on June 29. The reduction would leave the agency with
$815.7 million, about $14 million over current year funding. In 2007,
the Census Bureau must prepare for the 2008 Census Dress Rehearsal and
2007 Economic Census and Census of Governments, award an advertising
contract for the 2010 census, and continue large contracts to develop
the data integration and processing infrastructure for the census.
The U.S. Senate began consideration of its own 2007 funding bill today,
with the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science
approving roughly $828 million for the Census Bureau, about $50 million
less than the Presidents request of $878 million. The funding
reduction will affect programs in the Periodic Censuses and Programs
account, not the Salaries and Expenses account, but no further details
are available about which activities might be affected. The full
Appropriations Committee will take up the bill on July 13.
House questions need for increased census funding: In the House, the
largest single funding cut came through an amendment sponsored by Reps.
Mark Kennedy (R-MN), Lee Terry (R-NB), and a bipartisan group of
legislators, which shifted $50 million from the Census Bureau to the
Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG) program. The
amendment passed by a vote of 291 129.
Supporters of the amendment noted that the Administration had eliminated
funding for the Byrne JAG program in its proposed Fiscal Year 2007
budget. The Appropriations Committee approved $367 million for the
grants, but program advocates said that amount still represented a
significant reduction from the previous high funding level of $600
million. During the debate, many legislators highlighted local law
enforcement efforts to combat methamphetamine use, which they called an
epidemic.
Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Frank Wolf (R-VA) countered that
the Kennedy amendment would devastate the census and impact
fundamental missions of the Census Bureau. The immediate
ramifications are a disproportionate impact on vulnerable populations,
irretrievable loss of testing opportunities to identify problems, the
chairman warned, referring to efforts to improve coverage of
historically hard-to-count populations in the census. Noting that the
Census Bureau is vulnerable to cuts to fund other popular programs,
Rep. Wolf said, There is not a lobby downtown for the Census Bureau.
Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), ranking Democrat on the Appropriations
subcommittee, also opposed the Kennedy amendment, calling the offset of
census funds unacceptable. Rep. Mollohan pointed out that law
enforcement uses census data to determine how to allocate manpower and
equipment.
Supporters of the Kennedy amendment did not criticize the Census
Bureaus work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had
increased the agencys budget by $72 million over the 2006 funding
level. We are talking about funding cops, the war on drugs, homeland
security, or $72 million more for the Bureau of the Census, Rep. Jim
Ramstad (R-MN) offered. To me that is a no-brainer: We fund Byrne
grants, which every law enforcement official in America is pleading
for. Rep. Mark Souder (R-IN) called the choice a matter of
priorities. Right now, we need more help on the streets with crime
than we do in the Census Bureau. The mandate for every 10 years is
every 10 years. Rep. Souder, who had previously served on the census
oversight subcommittee, also suggested that the private sector could pay
for some of the Census Bureaus other tasks if they need the data.
Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureaus
oversight subcommittee, countered that, The Census doesnt just appear
in an instant and then disappear every ten years; it is a constant,
massive effort that never stops. She reminded her colleagues that the
distribution of [Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grants] is based on
population and crime statistics, both of which are based on Census
statistics.
The House also approved, by voice vote, two additional amendments that
shifted funds from the Census Bureaus Periodic Censuses and Programs
account to other anti-crime programs. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite (R-FL)
authored a proposal to increase funding for the Violence Against Women
Act by $10 million, with $5 million coming from the Census Bureau and
the other $5 million from the Justice Departments administrative
account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the
Census Bureaus cut would come from economic statistics programs (which
include the Economic Census) and $2.5 million would come from
demographic statistics, which includes Geographic Support System
activities that help keep the Master Address File accurate. Rep. Nancy
Johnson (R-CT) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) sponsored an
amendment to increase funding for the FBIs Innocent Images program
(which pursues on-line sex predators) by $3.3 million, with the money
coming from the Census Bureau.
Reengineered census at risk, agency says: Following the House action,
the Census Bureau issued an impact statement, saying the proposed
funding reduction would force it to abandon plans to use GPS-equipped
hand-held computers to collect information from unresponsive households
in the census. Reverting to paper-based operations will add at least
$1 billion to the overall cost of the 2010 census, the agency said.
The bureau said it would put off aligning the TIGER digital mapping
system with GPS coordinates in all counties, a project currently
scheduled for completion in 2008. New initiatives to reduce undercounts
and overcounts in the 2010 census also would be compromised, the
bureau wrote.
Funding at the House-passed level also would result in cancellation of
group quarters coverage in the American Community Survey (ACS),
according to the Impact Statement. Group quarters, which include
nursing homes, college dorms, military barracks, and prisons, were first
added to the ACS this year. Ultimately not including the GQ population
in the ACS means the ACS cannot fully be the replacement for the long
form in 2010, the Census Bureau said.
Stakeholders convey support for census funding to Senate: A diverse
group of census stakeholders, under the umbrella of The Census Project,
sent a letter to all Senate appropriators yesterday, urging support for
full funding for the Census Bureau. The letter was signed by 25
organizations representing local governments, scientific professions and
researchers, the business community, housing and social justice
advocates, and organized labor. The letter is posted at
www.thecensusproject.org.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, published two
editorials, explaining how census data are used to administer effective
law enforcement programs and to prepare for and respond to disasters.
To Take a Bite Out of Crime: Safeguard the Census
(www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060626.htm) and Anticipating
the Unimaginable: The Crucial Role of the Census in Disaster Planning
and Recovery (www.brookings.edu/views/op-ed/reamer/20060710.htm) are
authored by Andrew Reamer, Brookings Fellow and Deputy Director, Urban
Markets Initiative, Metropolitan Policy Program.
SIPP funding partially restored in House: The House Committee on
Appropriations allocated $29.2 million for the Census Bureau to continue
fielding the Survey of Income and Program Participation while the agency
designs an alternative program to produce data on the dynamics of
economic well-being. The Bush Administration has proposed eliminating
the survey next year, saying the current design is burdensome for
respondents and that data processing is time-consuming and difficult.
The President requested $9.2 million to close out data collection in
2006 and begin developing a replacement program.
House appropriators, however, approved an amendment offered by Rep. Jose
Serrano (D-NY) to restore $10 million for SIPP in 2007. In addition,
the committee report accompanying the Census Bureaus appropriations
bill directed the agency to use $10 million in mandatory funds
previously designated for other data collection activities related to
welfare reform, to continue the SIPP while it develops a new system.
The total amount included in the House bill for SIPP is $29.2; the
survey cost about $39 million to administer in 2006.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
Ed Christopher
FHWA Resource Center
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
708-283-3534 (v) 708-283-3501 (f)
708-574-8131 (cell)
I just got this from TerriAnn Lowenthal. In her latest news flash
TerriAnn notes that there are several probable amendments that will be
made to the Census Bureau's Fiscal Year 2007 appropriations bill that
would shift significant funds from census programs to other activities
in the Science, State, Justice, and Commerce spending bill. The House
is starting consideration of the appropriations bill as early as today
and continuing through the week.
AMENDMENTS WOULD CUT FY07 CENSUS FUNDING
Several proposed amendments to the Census Bureaus appropriations bill
would cut the agencys funding by tens of millions of dollars. The
amendments reportedly will be offered when the House of Representatives
considers the massive Fiscal Year 2007 Science, State, Justice, and
Commerce Appropriations bill (H.R. 5672) starting as early as today.
Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-MA) has alerted colleagues that he will offer an
amendment to shift $30 million from the Census Bureau to the Justice
Departments Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Program. It is not
known if the proposed amendment would direct the Census Bureau to cut
specific programs. The amendments goal is to ensure that we fully
fund the [BVP] program at its authorized level of $50 million,
according to a Dear Colleague letter from Rep. Lynch. The National
Association of Police Organizations, Inc. thanked the congressman in a
letter for sponsoring the amendment.
Reps. Lee Terry (R-NB) and Mark Kennedy (R-MN) will offer three
amendments to increase funding for the Justice Departments Edward Byrne
Memorial Justice Assistance Grants, which the Administration had
proposed to eliminate. The Appropriations Committee had restored some
funding for this program. One of the Terry-Kennedy amendments would
shift $50 million from the Census Bureau to the Byrne JAG program.
Rep. Michael Rogers (R-MI) reportedly will offer an amendment to shift
$14.1 million from various Census Bureau activities to the Commerce
Departments Manufacturing Extension Partnership. Rep. Nancy Johnson
(R-CT) is seeking to shift $3.3 million from the Census Bureau to the
FBIs Innocent Images program, while Reps. Dennis Cardoza (D-CA), Rick
Larsen (D-WA), and Darlene Hooley (D-OR) propose to take $20 million
from census programs to fund grants for drug-endangered children.
Other amendments affecting the Census Bureau are possible. The
Appropriations Committee increased funding for the Census Bureau by
about $72 million over current year levels, as the agency ramps up for
the 2010 census and continues nationwide implementation of the American
Community Survey.
Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent
consultant in Washington, DC, with support from The Annie E. Casey
Foundation and other organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is also a consultant
to The Census Project, sponsored by the Communications Consortium Media
Center. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the
author. Please direct questions about the information in this News
Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-3067 or by e-mail at
TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to
other interested individuals and organizations.
--
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)
