[CTPP] Census News Brief

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 Bureau’s 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 President’s 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 Bureau’s work, but several noted that the Appropriations Committee had increased the agency’s 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 Bureau’s “other tasks” if they need the data. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a long time member of the Census Bureau’s oversight subcommittee, countered that, “The Census doesn’t 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 Bureau’s 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 Department’s administrative account. The amendment further specified that $2.5 million of the Census Bureau’s 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 FBI’s 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 Bureau’s 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)