[CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF 2-24-2009

CONGRESS SET TO FINISH 2009 FUNDING BILL; CENSUS FULLY FUNDED FOR CURRENT YEAR Plus: President Reportedly Will Name New Commerce Secretary; and more. Congressional appropriators are set to consider this week an omnibus funding bill (H.R. 1105) to pay for most non-defense federal programs for the remainder of FY2009, which ends September 30, 2009. The $410 billion measure allocates the full budget request of $3.14 billion for the Census Bureau, well more than double the 2008 appropriation of $1.26 billion. The bill is expected to go directly to the House floor, without a committee vote, and then on to the Senate. The Bush Administration originally requested $2.635 billion for the Census Bureau this year, but amended its request last spring after problems with the large contract for GPS-equipped handheld computers forced the bureau to revise the way it will collect information from households that do not mail back a census form next year. The 2010 census “replan” issued in 2008 could increase the lifecycle cost of the decennial count by up to $3 billion. The FY2009 appropriations measure includes $2.906 billion for Periodic Censuses and Programs, the overall account that covers the decennial census and American Community Survey. The bill carries forward previous legislative language prohibiting the Census Bureau from eliminating the “Some Other Race” option on the census race question and from instituting a sweepstakes to encourage census participation. The bill also encourages spending on “promotion, outreach, and marketing activities.” “Periodics” funding also covers the quinquennial (every five years) economic and government censuses. The joint explanatory statement accompanying the bill notes that Congress is providing full funding for the decennial census “to return the 2010 Census to a more reliable, paper-based operation, with the expectation that the new Administration will focus the requisite oversight to ensure a successful Decennial.” The report says that a “lack of critical oversight” and “lack of attention” in the previous Administration “significantly increased the risk of failure” for the census. The committee report highlights the importance of paid media in promoting the census, especially in minority communities and communities with limited English proficiency. Appropriators directed the Census Bureau to reevaluate its communications program in light of the revised plan for nonresponse follow-up and to submit a comprehensive communications plan for 2010 to Congress. They also expressed support for “robust partnership and outreach efforts … with specific focus on hard-to-reach populations.” Other issues highlighted in the committee’s statement are language assistance programs for both the decennial census and American Community Survey (ACS); the importance of reliable census and ACS data for numerically small populations, such as Asian, Hispanic, and Pacific Islander subgroups; and Census in the Schools program, for which the committee directed the Census Bureau to spend at least $10 million on competitive grants and adult education materials in support of the 2010 census. The Census Bureau has already launched final preparations for the 2010 census. Key operations in FY2009 include: •opening and staffing 150 “early” local census offices; •canvassing all neighborhoods and rural areas to verify addresses (on the Master Address File) and geographic locations (in the TIGER system); •finalizing data capture, data processing, and telecommunications systems; •printing hundreds of millions of census questionnaires and other forms; •developing a national advertising campaign; •hiring additional national and regional staff to oversee field operations; and •implementing a nationwide Partnership Program to engage government officials, civic leaders, community organizations, businesses, and other “gatekeepers” in support of the census. Economic and demographic statistics: The 2009 spending bill includes $233.6 million for Salaries and Expenses, the account covering ongoing collection of demographic and economic statistics. House committee report language allocates $45.7 million of that amount -- $486,000 more than the previous Administration requested -- for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), to maintain a sample size of 45,000 households and improve the survey over the next several years. The appropriations bill provides $90.6 million for the Commerce Department’s Economics and Statistics Administration (ESA), which houses the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) in addition to the Census Bureau. The allocation is $500,000 more than the budget request. BEA produces key economic statistics, including Gross Domestic Product, that support U.S. monetary and fiscal policies, trade negotiations, business planning, and personal savings and investment decisions. Congressional appropriations process: In the coming days and months, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations will approve final funding levels for FY2009, and hold hearings and “mark-ups” to consider the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget request for federal departments and agencies. The President will send his FY2010 budget to Congress on Thursday. The Appropriations Subcommittees on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies have jurisdiction over the Census Bureau and BEA. House Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Democrats Republicans H-309 The Capitol 1016 Longworth H.O.B. Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515 Alan Mollohan (WV) Frank Wolf (VA) (Chairman) (Ranking Minority Member) Patrick Kennedy (RI) John Abney Culberson (TX) Chaka Fattah (PA) Robert B. Aderholt (AL) Adam Schiff (CA) Jo Bonner (AL) Mike Honda (CA) Jerry Lewis (CA) (ex officio) C.A. “Dutch” Ruppersberger (MD) Peter J. Visclosky, (IN) José E. Serrano, New York David Obey (WI)(ex offico) Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Democrats Republicans SD-144 Dirksen S.O.B. SH-123 Hart S.O.B. Washington, DC 20510 Washington, DC 20510 Barbara Mikulski (MD) Richard Shelby (AL) (Chairman) (Ranking Minority Member) Patrick Leahy (VT) Judd Gregg (NH) Herb Kohl (WI) Mitch McConnell (KY) Tom Harkin (IA) Kay Bailey Hutchison (TX) Byron Dorgan (ND) Sam Brownback (KS) Dianne Feinstein (CA) Lamar Alexander (TN) Jack Reed (RI) Thad Cochran (MS) (ex officio) Frank Lautenberg (NJ) Daniel Inouye (HI)(ex officio) New Commerce Secretary reportedly chosen: President Obama is prepared to nominate former Washington State Governor Gary Locke (D) to be Secretary of Commerce, a position that will give the nation’s first Chinese American governor a significant role in overseeing the 2010 census, according to Administration sources quoted in several major newspapers. Governor Locke, now a Seattle-based lawyer, is the President’s third nominee for the top Commerce post after two previous nominees, New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson and New Hampshire Senator Judd Gregg, withdrew from consideration. Mr. Locke served two terms as governor of Washington; he also served as a deputy prosecutor in King County (which includes the City of Seattle), member of the Washington House of Representatives, and King County chief executive. Washington State was involved in a census lawsuit following the 1990 count. With encouragement from Congress, the Census Bureau included members of the armed forces and federal civilian personnel stationed abroad in the state population totals used to apportion seats in the U.S. House of Representatives. The overseas population shifted a congressional seat from Massachusetts to Washington. Massachusetts unsuccessfully challenged the Census Bureau’s decision to include overseas military and federal personnel in a case that went to the U.S. Supreme Court (Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 1992). The Court found that the Commerce Secretary’s decision to include members of the military stationed overseas in the apportionment totals could not be reviewed as a “final agency action” under the Administrative Procedure Act. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writing for a unanimous court, also wrote that including overseas government personnel was a reasonable interpretation of the intent of the Constitution’s census clause (Article I, section 2) to count people at their “usual place of residence.” Washington State intervened as a party in support of the Commerce Department’s position. The Administration also announced the nomination of April Boyd to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, a position that requires Senate confirmation. Ms. Boyd is the chief of staff to Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) and previously held positions with Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and in the U.S. Department of Energy and U.S. General Services Administration. ----------- Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. 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 TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461