[CTPP] Census2000 Initiative News Alert

From: Census2000 &lt;Census2000(a)ccmc.org&gt; Census Monitoring Board Report Analyzes Funding Consequences of Census Undercount Plus: OMB Issues New Guidance on Tabulating Race Data; Congress Continues Oversight of Census Operations; Virginia Anti-Sampling Bill Headed for Governor's Desk The Presidential members of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board released a report last week analyzing the potential effect on the distribution of federal funds of an undercount in the 2000 census. The firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC) prepared the report for the Democratic members of the Board. PwC studied eight federal programs representing over 82 percent of federal grant programs (with obligations over $500 million in fiscal year 1998) that rely on census data to determine the allocation of funds. For these programs, the report concludes that 26 states and the District of Columbia would lose an estimated $9.1 billion in funding from 2002-2012 due to a projected undercount in Census 2000. 169 metropolitan areas would lose $11.1 billion over the same period, according to the analysis, with the affected jurisdictions losing an average of $3,391 for each person not counted in the census. PwC said the projected funding losses are conservative estimates because it did not review all population-based federal programs or any state programs that distribute funds to counties and cities based on census data. Gilbert Cassellas, Presidential Co-chair of the Census Monitoring Board, said, "This study confirms that a 2000 undercount would result in federal funds being sent to places where the need is not the greatest." Board member Lorraine Green said at a press conference: "It is in the economic self-interest of every American ... to participate in the census." The other Presidential appointees on the Board are former Commerce Under Secretary Everett Ehrlich and California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante. Dr. Peter Merrill, director of PwC's National Economic Consulting Group, oversaw preparation of the report. PwC estimates that the net national undercount rate for Census 2000 will be 1.75 percent of the population, or nearly 5 million people, a figure that it called "conservative." The net undercount in 1990 was 1.59 percent. To estimate the potential misallocation of funds following the 2000 census, PwC applied the undercount rate for states, counties, and cities for the 1990 census to the latest Census Bureau population projections for 2000. (The methodology is described more fully in the report.) The Bureau measured the 1990 undercount using a 'post enumeration survey' conducted in the summer of 1990. PwC also assumed current funding formulas for the programs studied, and funding levels cited in the Clinton Administration's fiscal year 2000 Current Services Budget. The Census Monitoring Board was created in late 1997 pursuant to a provision of the Census Bureau's funding bill for fiscal year 1998. The Board has eight members: four appointed by President Clinton, two appointed by the Speaker of the House of Representatives (then Rep. Newt Gingrich), and two appointed by Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-MS). The Board will operate through September 2001. The PwC report, "Effect of Census 2000 Undercount on Federal Funding to States and Local Areas, 2002-2012," is available through the Presidential Board members' Web site, www.cmbp.gov <http://www.cmbp.gov>, and the PricewaterhouseCoopers Web site, www.pwcglobal.com <http://www.pwcglobal.com>. The Congressional Board members, led by Co-chair Kenneth Blackwe ll, maintain their own Web site at www.cmbc.gov <http://www.cmbc.gov>. OMB issues guidance on tabulating race data: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued further guidance on tabulating race data under its revised standards to federal agencies charged with monitoring and enforcing civil rights laws. In a March 9th memo to agency heads, OMB Director Jacob Lew noted that the Census Bureau would publish the full range of 63 possible single and multiple race responses from Census 2000. He said OMB must ensure the "ability to monitor compliance with laws that offer protections for those who historically have experienced discrimination [as well as] minimize reporting burden for institutions such as schools and businesses that report aggregate data on race to federal agencies." OMB modified the policy for collecting data on race and ethnicity in October 1997; the new policy allows people to select more than one race when they answer the census or fill out forms for employers or schools. The five single race categories are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander, and White. Hispanic is considered an ethnicity under the OMB policy, and Hispanics may select one or more of the race options in Census 2000 in addition to identifying themselves in a separate "Hispanic origin" question. For the purpose of reporting data to federal agencies, the OMB guidelines call for aggregating the information by the five single race categories; four double race combinations projected to be chosen most frequently; other multiple race combinations that comprise more than one percent of the population in the relevant jurisdiction (as determined by the responsible agency); and a balance category for all other responses. For civil rights monitoring and enforcement, federal agencies will allocate multiple race responses in several ways: combinations of one minority race and White are allocated to the minority race; combinations that include two or more minority races are allocated to the race that is cited as the basis for discrimination, in the case of an individual complaint of discrimination. In cases that require an assessment of disparate impact or discriminatory patterns (such as the employment record of a particular company), the enforcement agency will review the patterns based on alternative allocations to each of the minority groups reported. Interested stakeholders may contact OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs/Statistical Policy Office, at 202/395-3093, or visit the Federal Statistics Briefing Rooms, at www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr <http://www.whitehouse.gov/fsbr>, for further information. Congressional oversight continues: Census Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt vigorously defended his agency against charges by a House subcommittee chairman that Congress, the General Accounting Office (GAO), and other external watchdogs are denied timely access to information about census operations and local census facilities. At a March 8th hearing of the Subcommittee on the Census, Dr. Prewitt drew a distinction between "proper oversight" and "managing the census," noting that the GAO had recently requested "a terabyte" of information equal to 50 million telephone books. Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) said the Census Bureau "has built unnecessary barriers" to gathering information that "will affect respect for the census." He said Bureau guidelines for visits to local census offices by congressional staff, Census Monitoring Board representatives, and other official observers, "border on arrogant." Dr. Prewitt replied that the guidelines apply only to field office visits that involve operational staff, and that they help the Bureau accommodate requests on a systematic basis. The director pointed to a recent letter from Census Monitoring Board Republican Co-chair Kenneth Blackwell, outlining plans for his staff to visit 31 local census offices in March. He said the Bureau has responded to every request from its overseers. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the panel's senior Democrat, said she wanted to "focus on the good news." "[T]he 2000 census operations are on schedule and as of today there are no major problems," she said in her opening remarks. In response to the chairman's concerns about access to Census Bureau information, Rep. Maloney cautioned against "over zealous oversight," saying the director was being criticized for an inability to answer a large number of requests, not for his implementation of the census. Rep. Miller also raised several operational concerns, such as the apparent confusion in some English-speaking households over why the advance notification mailing included a return envelope. Dr. Prewitt acknowledged that the failure to explain the second envelope to those not requesting a foreign language form was an "error in judgment," but noted that only a few hundred households out of 115 million recipients had complained. The director told panel members that while there are "numerous and constant issues that present problems" during the census, "we have not yet hit a problem that puts the census at risk." The Census Subcommittee will hold its next hearing to review the status of census operations on Tuesday, March 14, at 2:00 p.m. in room 2203 Rayburn House Office Building. Representatives of the U.S. General Accounting Office will testify. State legislative activities update: The Virginia State Senate narrowly approved a bill last week prohibiting the use of statistically corrected census data for redrawing congressional and General Assembly district boundaries. The House of Delegates passed the same bill in February. The measure awaits a signature or veto by Governor James S. Gilmore III (R), who has previously voiced opposition to using sampling methods in the census. Virginia is one of 16 states subject to section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, which requires approval from the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal district court for any change to state election laws. States covered by section 5 must show that the change does not diminish the right to vote of racial, ethnic, or language minorities, before the new law can take effect. Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or, by e-mail at terriann2k(a)aol.com. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org <http://www.census2000.org>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to the Census 2000 Initiative at Census2000(a)ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.