CENSUS DATA WIDELY USED IN NEW ORLEANS AREA Plus: ACS and Census Long Form Could Be At Risk, Census Bureau Says A wide range of census data was in heavy demand in the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina ravaged much of New Orleans, a representative of the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center told a gathering of stakeholders at a Washington policy briefing last Friday. Denice Warren, herself an evacuee from New Orleans, participated in a forum sponsored by The Brookings Institution on how proposed funding cuts would affect key Census Bureau programs. The American Community Survey (ACS), key tests for the 2010 census, and several other widely-used economic and demographic surveys could be scaled back or canceled under the Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) funding level approved last month by the U.S. Senate. Ms. Warren said the GNOCDC tracked visits to its web site (www.gnocdc.org), which features data tables and maps on important neighborhood characteristics, including poverty, educational attainment, transportation, employment, housing, and immigration. For the first half of 2005, the web site received roughly 5,000 hits per month. That number jumped to 40,000 in August and 80,000 in September, suggesting that public officials, relief organizations, and the media relied heavily on data (much of it derived directly or indirectly from the Census Bureau) to assess the consequences of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to help plan recovery efforts. The forum also featured remarks by Dr. William O’Hare, KIDS COUNT Program Coordinator, The Annie E. Casey Foundation; James Eskew, Assistant Director, Cushman & Wakefield Client Solutions, which helps businesses make informed location decisions; and Dr. William Frey, Visiting Fellow, Metropolitan Policy Program, The Brookings Institution. Dr. O’Hare noted that public and private sector data users have invested a great deal of time and money in preparing to use American Community Survey estimates, and that a once-a-decade model for collecting information “ignores” how quickly modern society is changing. Dr. Frey also warned that collecting detailed socio-economic data once-a-decade fails to recognize the “dynamic nature” of 21st century America. Mr. Eskew highlighted how census data are the foundation for analyzing and comparing local economies when businesses are looking to build new headquarters, plants, or stores. The four Brookings forum presentations are available at: http://www.brookings.edu/metro/umi/20051014_censusfundingFY2006.htm (scroll down to the bottom of the gray box). Census funding update: With 2006 funding and the future of the American Community Survey still uncertain, The Washington Post reported last Friday that the Census Bureau “is floating the idea of a 2010 census with only a short-form population and race count” that would provide the data needed for congressional apportionment and redistricting, even if it stops the ACS after this year (The Washington Post, 10/14/05, The Federal Page). The bureau could consider such a scenario if Congress fails to provide enough money to continue the ACS in 2006 and “if money is tight,” the Post article said. Census Bureau officials told the newspaper, as well as congressional appropriators, that suspending the ACS and planning for a 2000-style census in 2010 would add $1.3 billion to the estimated $11.3 billion lifecycle cost of the next count. Census Bureau Director C. Louis Kincannon told the Post that a FY06 funding level “materially below the House mark” of $812.2 million would spell trouble for key agency programs and plans, including the ACS, automated data collection in the 2010 census, and the 2006 Census Field Test in Travis County, Texas, and on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in South Dakota. The Senate allocated $727.4 million for the Census Bureau, $150 million less than President Bush requested and $17 million below the 2005 funding level. The Washington Post article also quotes a spokeswoman for Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Virginia Davis, as saying: “Senator Shelby recognizes the important work being done by the Census Bureau, but he believes that we must balance that with the tight budget constraints that Congress is facing.” Sen. Shelby chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science; he did not chair the subcommittee with responsibility for Census Bureau funding in the last Congress. Dan Scandling, a spokesman for Rep. Frank Wolf (R-VA), who chairs the Appropriations Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce, told the Post that House members “will push to keep [the Census Bureau’s budget] at House levels.” (Note: The House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees with responsibility for funding the Commerce Department’s Census Bureau no longer have fully comparable jurisdictions.) Appropriations conferees: The U.S. Senate appointed conferees last month to negotiate a final spending bill that includes the Census Bureau. All members of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science are conferees. Please see the March 11, 2005, Census News Brief posted at www.thecensusproject.org for a list of subcommittee members. The House of Representatives has not formally appointed its conferees, but according to tradition, all members of the Subcommittee on Science, State, Justice, and Commerce will likely serve on the conference committee. Please see the February 24 Census News Brief for a list of panel members. 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