[CTPP] Census 2000 News Alert

Date: Thu, 6 Aug 1998 11:23:28 -0400 From: census2000 <census2000(a)ccmc.org> House Approves Funding Restriction on Census Operations, Rejecting Mollohan Amendment Appropriators Also Say Operational Problems Put Census At Risk The House of Representatives yesterday approved, by a vote of 225 - 203, a $34 billion spending measure that includes $952 million for 2000 census preparations but withholds half of that amount until Congress and the Administration agree on a final census design by March 1999. On a mostly party line vote of 201 - 227, the House rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) to remove the funding restriction. The amendment also would have required the Census Bureau to continue planning for the census on dual tracks until the Supreme Court rules on two pending lawsuits challenging the constitutionality and legality of sampling in the census. In two hours of debate, supporters and opponents of the 2000 census plan sparred over the validity of scientific methods to augment direct counting efforts, constitutional requirements, and the timing of a final resolution of the controversy over census methods. Rep. Mollohan said his goal was to "again focus the debate on issues of science and accuracy," and noted that the Bureau needed $644 million to carry out census preparations through March 1999, $169 million more than the funding bill allows. He warned that the funding split proposed by critics of the Bureau's plan would be "fatally destabiliz[e]" the census. Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), head of the Commerce appropriations subcommittee, said the two-part arrangement represented an agreement between the President and congressional Republican leaders last November to resolve the dispute over methods next spring. The President was afraid that his "radical plan for polling" would not withstand public scrutiny, Rogers said. Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chair of the census oversight panel, praised parts of the Bureau's 2000 plan, including the move to paid advertising. He condemned the proposed use of scientific methods, however, saying that the Bureau will "intentionally not count 26 or 27 million people," but instead will use "cloning techniques" to create a "virtual population." Rep. Miller suggested that administrative records, including data on Medicaid recipients, could help reduce the undercount. The Census Bureau decided not to collect social security numbers after tests showed a significant drop in response if people are asked to give that information. Social security numbers would be needed to access most government records. Rep. Tom Sawyer (D-OH), who headed the census subcommittee during the last census, pointed out that direct counting methods resulted in a large number of mistakes in 1990, including a 38 percent error rate during the final weeks of the door-to-door visits. The Fiscal Year 1999 Commerce, State, Justice, and The Judiciary Appropriations bill (H.R. 4276) also includes $4 million for the Census Monitoring Board. The Senate passed its version of the funding measure (S. 2260) on July 23. A conference committee of the House and Senate must resolve differences between the two bills, and both chambers must give final approval to the conference agreement, before sending it to the President for a signature or veto. While the controversy over sampling continued to dominate public debate, House appropriators also raised serious concerns about the progress of certain key census preparations. In a written report explaining provisions of the Commerce bill in more detail, the funding committee noted that the Bureau faces problems with "every major component and activity of the Census plan," including address list development, outreach, and computer software to weed out duplicate forms. The fiscal year 1999 bill includes $32 million above the Bureau's request for additional promotion and outreach efforts and $82 million more to open local census offices earlier than originally planned. The committee directed the Bureau to provide Congress with monthly reports on how it was spending its 2000 census funds. Census Monitoring Board activities: On August 5, the Census Monitoring Board visited Columbia, South Carolina, one of three sites where the Census Bureau is trying out procedures for the 2000 census. The Bureau agreed last year to conduct a dry run without using scientific sampling methods in Columbia and eleven surrounding rural counties. The Monitoring Board also planned to hear testimony from Regional Census Bureau Director Susan Hardy and local government officials and community leaders. 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>om>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at <kmonihan(a)ccmc.org> or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.