From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> Census 2000 Legal Challenges Continue: Texas Counties File Suit; Democratic Reps Seek Adjusted Numbers Plus: Hearing Planned on American Community Survey; Congressional and Administration updates; and more. Two Texas counties filed a lawsuit on May 10, challenging the accuracy of their population counts from Census 2000. Cameron and Hidalgo Counties, located in the Rio Grande Valley, contend the unadjusted numbers issued in March for their jurisdictions reflect an undercount of tens of thousands of people and will deprive them of their "fair and intended share of federal funding and [skew] the allocation of revenues." Cameron County believes its official population count of 335,227 is off by about 22,000 people; Hidalgo County says its population figure should be about 56,000 higher than the reported 569,463. The counties claim that Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans violated the Administrative Procedures Act by revoking, without notice or a comment period, a federal rule delegating to the Census Bureau director authority for the decision on whether to release statistically adjusted census numbers. They also allege that the Census Bureau's recommendation to release unadjusted numbers, which the Secretary adopted, was based on "the mistaken belief that... unadjusted data should be released unless [the Census Bureau] could conclude to a certainty and beyond doubt that adjusted data would be more accurate." Applying this "wrong standard" disregards a Census Act mandate to use statistically adjusted data "if it is feasible," the plaintiffs contend. The counties also assert that the disproportionate undercount of Hispanics in the census "arbitrarily discriminates" among population groups in violation of the Constitution's equal protection clause. The plaintiffs asked the court to declare the adjusted numbers to be the "official census data for federal funding purposes" and to order the release of the data. The plaintiffs include nearly three dozen cities located within the two counties, and the County Judges of Cameron and Hidalgo. The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Case No. B-01-082). Secretary Evans and the U.S. Department of Commerce are the named defendants. Democratic Reps go to court for adjusted numbers: Sixteen Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Government Reform, which has jurisdiction over the census, filed a lawsuit on May 21 against Secretary of Commerce Donald Evans, to compel release of the statistically adjusted census population numbers. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) (the committee's senior Democrat), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-MO) (ranking Democrat on the Census Subcommittee), and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) (a member and former ranking Democrat on the Census Subcommittee) are leading the legal challenge. The lawmakers are seeking the adjusted numbers under a 1928 federal statute, called the "Seven Member Rule," that gives any seven members of the House Committee on Government Reform special access to federal records. "There is no valid reason for the Bush Administration to withhold this data from members of Congress or the public," Rep. Waxman said in announcing the court action. Rep. Clay accused the Administration of "playing politics with the census data." The representatives noted that the unadjusted data released in March fails to account for more than six million Americans missed in Census 2000 and that the adjusted numbers could be used to allocate more than $185 billion in federal grants each year. "The American taxpayers paid for [the adjusted data], they deserve to see it," Rep. Maloney said. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, which recently dismissed a legal challenge by Los Angeles and other municipalities to Secretary Evans' decision to release unadjusted census data to the states for redistricting purposes. The congressional plaintiffs said it is the first lawsuit brought under the Seven Member Rule. The Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), a conservative Atlanta-based organization, issued a statement calling the lawsuit "a senseless waste of court time and public money." SLF President Phil Kent said "[t]he courts have spoken on this matter" and that he was confident the "misguided band of politicos would lose this battle". SLF spearheaded a legal challenge to the Census 2000 plan that resulted in a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision barring the use of statistical sampling methods to derive the population counts for congressional apportionment. Los Angeles appeals dismissal of adjustment lawsuit: Los Angeles and several other cities and counties from across the country have asked the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to review a lower court's dismissal of their lawsuit challenging the Commerce Secretary's decision to release unadjusted census data to the states last March. In an April 26th decision, U.S. District Court Judge Gary A. Feess ruled that Secretary Evans' decision did not violate §195 of Title 13, United States Code (the Census Act) because "the Secretary's actions are consistent with a permissible construction of the statute." Judge Feess concluded that "the paramount objective of the Census Act is accuracy in counting population" and that "substantial evidence supports the Census Bureau's recommendation against adjustment." Brian Currey of O'Melveny & Myers, the law firm handling the plaintiffs' case, said the Appeals Court "will take a fresh look at the statutes and case law... and we believe it will rule in our favor." Congressional hearing scheduled: The House Subcommittee on the Census will hold a hearing on the status of planning for the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). The panel will review the survey's cost, coverage of less populous areas and smaller population groups, questionnaire content, operational requirements, and other relevant issues. The hearing is scheduled for June 13, at 2:00 pm, in room 2203 Rayburn House Office Building. The subcommittee has not yet announced a complete witness list. This is the Census Subcommittee's second oversight hearing on the ACS; the first was held last summer. Commerce Under Secretary confirmed: Dr. Kathleen B. Cooper, President Bush's nominee to be Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, was confirmed by the Senate on May 25. The Under Secretary heads up the Commerce Department's Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA), which houses the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Prior to her nomination, Dr. Cooper served as chief economist at Exxon Mobil Corporation. Senate committee changes expected: Committees and subcommittees in the United States Senate will likely have new chairpersons and ranking minority members when Congress reconvenes next week after its Memorial Day recess. The anticipated changes will result from Vermont Sen. James Jeffords' decision to leave the Republican Party and become an Independent, giving Democrats a 50-49-1 majority in the chamber. In Congress, the majority party in each chamber holds the chairmanships of all committees and subcommittees. The anticipated changes in committee leadership described below are still subject to negotiations between the two parties. The Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs has jurisdiction over the Census Bureau's activities and the federal statistical system generally, and would consider President Bush's nomination for Census Bureau director. (No subcommittee of this committee has been assigned specific responsibility for the Census Bureau.) Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), currently the committee's senior Democrat, is likely to become chairman, taking over from Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN). On the funding side, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) currently chairs the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and State, The Judiciary and Related Agencies, of the Committee on Appropriations, which covers the Census Bureau (part of the Commerce Department). The current ranking Democrat, Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC) is likely to become chairman. Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to Terri Ann Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or, by e-mail at mailto:terriann2k@aol.com. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to the Census 2000 Initiative at mailto:Census2000@ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals. ----------- Ed Christopher Bureau of Transportation Statistics U.S. Department of Transportation 400 Seventh Street SW Washington DC 20590 202-366-0412