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@wapdd.org < mailto:abyrne@wapdd.org>
www.bistatempo.org < http://www.bistatempo.org>
 



-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net
[ mailto:ctpp-news-bounces@chrispy.net]On Behalf Of Nancy Reger
Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:28 PM
To: ctpp-news@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@morpc.org



-----Original Message-----
From: ctpp-news-bounces@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@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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