[CTPP] Censu News Brief

CONFERENCE COMMITTEE LIKELY TO CONSIDER CENSUS FUNDING THIS WEEK Plus: More Census Stakeholders Weigh In on Funding Debate; Senate Approves Adding New Question To the ACS A House and Senate conference committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow to iron out differences between two versions of the Fiscal Year 2006 funding bill that covers the Census Bureau, according to Capitol Hill sources. The tentative schedule calls for the U.S. House of Representatives to appoint members to the conference committee today; the U.S. Senate appointed its conferees in September. Conferees would start meeting on November 3 and complete their negotiations in time to file a “conference report” in each chamber early next week. The House and Senate would then vote separately on the final bill, which cannot be amended, later in the week. If both chambers approve the conference bill, the measure will be sent to the President for his signature or veto. The Appropriations panels involved in the conference are the House Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce and the Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. Traditionally, all members of those subcommittees serve as conferees. The House allocated $65 million less for the Census Bureau than President Bush requested for Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06), while the Senate approved $150 million less than the President requested and $17 million less than the Fiscal Year 2005 funding level. (Formated table attached) Potentially complicating the funding picture for the Census Bureau, the House Appropriations Committee is meeting today to revise the amount of money allocated to each of its twelve spending panels at the start of the FY06 budget process last spring. The so-called “302(b) allocations,” named after a provision of the 1974 Congressional Budget Act, set spending ceilings for each appropriations account, every fiscal year. Within those ceilings, each appropriations subcommittee must fund the wide range of federal programs under its jurisdiction. A lower allocation for the Science, State, Justice, and Commerce Subcommittee would further squeeze the amount of money available for Census Bureau programs. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez wrote to appropriators on October 27, to highlight programs in the Commerce funding bill that are a priority for the department. The secretary asked conferees to allocate “no less than the House mark” for the Census Bureau, saying that the Senate funding level would eliminate the American Community Survey and require “the more costly and less useful Long Form” in the 2010 census, at an additional cost of more then $1 billion. “The investments Congress has made over the last ten years to modernize the Census and develop the American Community Survey would be lost,” Secretary Gutierrez wrote. The Census Bureau is part of the Economics and Statistics Administration within the Department of Commerce. Important census data at risk, stakeholders tell Congress: Stakeholders who rely on census data for planning, program development and evaluation, resource investment decisions, service delivery, and grant applications continued to urge Congress to preserve Census Bureau programs in FY06 (which began October 1st). State and local governments, businesses and industry groups, scientific associations, non-profit and civil rights organizations, in a wave of letters to appropriations panel members, called on legislators to allocate sufficient funds for the American Community Survey (ACS), 2010 census tests, and other demographic surveys and economic data programs. Some highlighted the need for information on populations and communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Louisiana Governor Kathleen Blanco wrote that the ACS was an “important federal tool” for making prudent investment decisions to help more than one million residents displaced by the hurricanes. Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), chairman of the Government Reform Committee, and Rep. Michael Turner (R-OH), chairman of the panel’s Subcommittee on Federalism and the Census, asked Speaker Dennis Hastert to support temporarily expanding the ACS in the regions affected by Hurricane Katrina, to produce detailed data every few months, at an estimated cost of $50 million. “If allocations [of federal funds] are made in the absence of timely, detailed, and accurate information, the risk is very high that billions of dollars invested in relief and reconstruction efforts will be ineffective,” the congressmen wrote on September 23. The Population Association of America and Associations of Population Centers continued their outreach to Congress, saying in a letter that, “Information on occupation, educational attainment, English language proficiency, housing conditions, and many other important topics will help officials create conditions and services needed to support successful community rebuilding” in the aftermath of the storms. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that his city uses ACS data for transportation, housing, education and community development planning, and that without the survey, “decision makers in both the public and private sectors will lose a valuable tool for deciphering emerging trends in American life.” The U.S. Conference of Mayors wrote that the Senate funding level is not enough “to employ the latest innovations and improved counting techniques that will help ensure a more accurate count in the 2010 census.” Highlighting the importance of economic data in its second letter to lawmakers, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called federal statistical agencies “highly efficient and motivated organizations that provide a vital service to all sectors of the American economy,” especially noting decisions affecting monetary policy, business investment strategies, trade negotiations, and household finances. Individual businesses, including Target Corporation and JC Penney, also sent letters to the Hill, as did the International Council of Shopping Centers. The National Association of Business Economists urged its members to inform Congress about the potential loss of economic data on manufactured products, manufacturers’ sales and inventories, business hi-tech equipment and software expenditures, and service industry expenses, all funded through the Census Bureau’s Salaries and Expenses account. The National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund expressed its concern about the future of the ACS and 2010 census improvements several times, most recently organizing a letter to conferees signed by 13 organizations. The stakeholder groups noted that the Census Bureau had requested a funding increase for the ACS “because the survey will entail 12 full months of costly field data collection in 2006, compared to only nine months during 2005, the start-up year.” Congress also failed to allocate enough funds in 2005 to include group quarters (e.g. college dorms, military barracks) in the ACS. The letter reminded Congress that “most key decisions affecting the design and scope of the 2010 census will be made in the next year.” The diverse letter signers included the American Foundation for the Blind, Arab American Institute Foundation, National Association of Counties, American Jewish Committee, National Low Income Housing Coalition, and Consortium of Social Science Associations. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joseph Lieberman (D-CT) warned conferees that the Senate funding level for the Census Bureau would have “dire consequences on the planned improvement for Census 2010, and will lead to the elimination of Census programs that improve government and businesses’ ability to understand and provide services to communities.” The House-passed funding level for census programs, they said, “is a small investment that can yield a mighty return, and the American people deserve it.” Sens. Collins and Lieberman are the chairman and ranking minority member, respectively, of the Census Bureau’s oversight committee. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a member of the Federalism and the Census Subcommittee, sent her House colleagues an editorial by The Washington Post (“Down for the Count,” Oct. 29, 2005), which urged Congress to accept the House-passed funding level for the Census Bureau. The editorial noted the wide range of stakeholder groups advocating adequate funds for the bureau and concluded that, “Less useful data for more money is a shortsighted tradeoff – even in this tight budgetary environment.” Senate bill would add new question to American Community Survey: While appropriators deliberated 2006 spending levels for the Census Bureau, the Senate adopted an amendment to NASA’s reauthorization bill (S. 1281) that would require the bureau to add a question to the ACS on “field of degree of college-educated individuals.” The data would benefit the National Science Foundation, according to section 153(a) of the bill. The amendment was sponsored by Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), a member of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science and chair of the Science and Space Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. It was cosponsored by Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL). The Senate approved the amendment and bill on September 28; the House version of the NASA reauthorization bill (H.R. 3070) does not include a similar provision related to the ACS. House census staffer leaves Congress for Archives: David McMillen, a lead congressional staff member on census and statistical issues for 14 years, has assumed the new position of External Affairs Liaison at the National Archives. Dr. McMillen was most recently a professional staff member for Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), the ranking Democrat on the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the Census Bureau. He previously worked on the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in a similar capacity, specializing in a wide range of information policy issues including the Freedom of Information Act, Paperwork Reduction Act, Privacy Act, and data confidentiality. Before coming to Congress, Dr. McMillen was employed by the Census Bureau as a demographer and statistician. In a press release, United States Archivist Allen Weinstein said that Dr. McMillen’s appointment will help the agency “open the doors to dialogue and collaboration with all of the organizations that share interests and relationships with the National Archives.” Dr. McMillen will be the full time liaison to stakeholder and customer communities, according to the press statement. [Author’s note: David, the entire census stakeholder community is grateful to you for your many years of informed and tireless support of comprehensive and accurate data. We will greatly miss your presence on the Hill, but we know that you will continue to shine in your new position at the National Archives. I wish you the very best on behalf of all of my readers!] 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 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461