From: Census2000 &lt;Census2000(a)ccmc.org&gt; Congress Clears Spending Bills for 2000; Census Gets $4.5 Billion in "Emergency" Funds Congress last week took its final steps to ensure funding for Census 2000 and other Federal activities in the fiscal year that began on October 1, passing and sending to the President for his expected signature a large spending package that includes funds for Census 2000. The measure allocates about $4.5 billion for decennial census operations, an amount that includes an extra $1.7 billion the Census Bureau requested last June to pay for its revised census plan. All funds for Census 2000 are designated as "emergency spending," meaning the expense didn't't count against strict spending caps set by Congress earlier in the budget process. Appropriators agreed to relax a provision in an earlier version of the Census Bureau's funding bill that requires the agency to obtain approval from Congress before transferring money between census activities. Under the modified provision, the Bureau must give three days notice before shifting funds between operational accounts. After weeks of negotiations, Congress and the Clinton Administration reached final agreement on a wide range of controversial issues that were delaying enactment of five of the 13 annual appropriations bills. The package includes an across-the-board reduction of 0.38 percent in all discretionary, or non-entitlement, federal spending. However, agency heads are given flexibility to apply the cut as they see fit to the activities under their purview. The House of Representatives passed the spending package by a vote of 296 - 135 on November 18; the Senate followed suit a day later, approving the bill by a vote of 74 - 24. To discourage legislators from stalling final passage of the omnibus measure, congressional leaders used the District of Columbia spending bill (H.R. 3194) as the vehicle for moving the remaining four appropriations bills, by referencing new versions of them in the legislative language. The final version of the Commerce, Justice, State, and The Judiciary appropriations bill, which covers Census Bureau programs, was reintroduced earlier in the week as H.R. 3421. (The original bill, which the President vetoed on October 25, was H.R. 2670.) Congress has adjourned for the year, bringing the first session of the 106th Congress to a close. Before heading home to their states and districts, lawmakers approved an eighth 'continuing resolution') that funds government agencies covered by the omnibus spending package through December 2, to give the President time to sign the final bill. Stakeholder activities: The Commerce Secretary's 2000 Census Advisory Committee will meet on December 2-3 at the Embassy Suites Alexandria, 1900 Diagonal Road, Alexandria, VA (tel. 703/684-5900. The meeting runs from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. on December 2 and 9:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. on December 3. The preliminary agenda includes updates on census field operations, advertising, data products, race and ethnic data tabulation, and evaluation plans, as well as reports from the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council census panel and the Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees. The meeting is open to the public. 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. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org <http://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 Census2000(a)ccmc.org or 202/326-8700. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.