HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES ’07 CENSUS FUNDING; SIPP FUNDS PARTIALLY RESTORED The House Appropriations Committee today approved a spending bill that funds 2007 Census Bureau activities at nearly the level requested by President Bush. The $59.84 billion Science, State, Justice and Commerce Appropriations bill (not yet numbered) includes $874 million for the Census Bureau, roughly $4 million less than the Administration’s request but about $72 million more than current year funding. The committee allocated $694.092 million for Periodic Censuses and Programs (“Periodics”), the amount requested by the President. The bill fully funds the American Community Survey (ACS) at about $180 million for Fiscal Year 2007, which starts October 1, 2006. The Periodics account also includes funding for the 2007 Economic Census. The second main Census Bureau account, Salaries and Expenses (S & E), received $190.067 million, compared to the Administration’s proposed funding level of $184.1 million. The President, however, did not seek funds to continue the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), a longitudinal survey used by many analysts to study the relationship between income, poverty, and government assistance programs. Rep. Jose Serrano (D-NY) successfully offered an amendment to add $10 million to the S & E account for the purpose of continuing the SIPP until the Census Bureau develops an alternative data collection program. The funding bill directs the bureau to spend a total of $19.2 million to continue the SIPP; that amount assumes the availability of $9.2 million the Administration requested to phase out and begin redesigning the SIPP. The survey costs roughly $39 million to administer this year, and it is unclear how the lower funding level (if it remains in the final bill) would affect the scope of the survey. The Serrano amendment moved money from the Justice Department’s general administration account and from diplomatic and consular programs at the State Department to fund the SIPP. Census Bureau funding could be vulnerable to amendments seeking money for other programs when the full House considers the Science, State, Justice and Commerce appropriations bill next week. The Periodic Censuses and Programs account is one of the few in the massive spending bill to receive both a significant increase over Fiscal Year 2006 and the full amount of funding the Administration proposed. Last year, the House appropriations panel allocated $45 million less than the Bush Administration requested for the Census Bureau. An amendment on the House floor offered by Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA) shifted another $20 million, including $10 million from 2010 census planning, from the bureau to community policing and anti-drug programs within the Justice Department. Brookings to host second congressional census briefing: The Brookings Institution, a Washington, DC-based think tank, will host its second Capitol Hill briefing on June 23 to educate congressional staff and other stakeholders about the importance of census data. “Better Data for Better Decisions: Why the American Community Survey Is Important for the Nation” will be held from 9:00 – 11:30 AM in Room 2154 Rayburn House Office Building. Speakers include staff from the Census Bureau and the House census oversight subcommittee, as well as data users from the Rural Policy Research Institute, JC Penney, and the Heritage Foundation. The first briefing, “The Road to the 2010 Census: Implications for Apportionment, Redistricting, and the Economy,” took place in April. If you have questions about these briefings, please contact Lindsay Clark at lclark(a)brookings.edu. More census news coming soon: The next Census News Brief, planned for next week, will include information on a recent Senate hearing examining the cost of the 2010 census; legislation to exclude undocumented residents from census apportionment counts; and significant policy developments related to 2010 census preparations and operations. 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)