Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1998 From: Keri Monihan &lt;kmonihan(a)ccmc.org&gt; Senate Begins Debate on Census Funding; House Action Expected Later in the Week Bill Introduced to Add Internet Questions to Census Long Form The Senate is set to begin consideration of the Census Bureau's funding bill for the next fiscal year. The measure approved by the Appropriations Committee (S. 2260) allocates $848 million for 2000 census work but the Senate so far has avoided the controversy over the use of scientific methods which will likely dominate debate when the House takes up the Fiscal Year 1999 Commerce, Justice, State, and The Judiciary Appropriations bill. The House Rules Committee will set the terms for floor debate on Wednesday; the House is expected to begin consideration of its spending bill on Thursday. In a July 16 written statement, Secretary of Commerce William Daley said that the six-month funding limit on 2000 census work approved by the House Appropriations Committee "would put the success of the Census 2000, whatever the design used, in serious jeopardy." He warned that the initial allocation of only $476 million would force the Census Bureau to suspend census preparations in late January 1999. The consequences include delays in completing address list development, opening local census offices, hiring and training local staff, and awarding contracts for questionnaire printing and data processing equipment, according to the Secretary's statement. To receive the remainder of the year's funds, Secretary Daley said, the Bureau "would be forced to agree to a plan it does not endorse." Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV), senior Democrat on the Commerce appropriations subcommittee, will ask the Rules panel to let him offer an amendment to remove the funding cap when the House takes up the Commerce spending bill. The Mollohan amendment, which was defeated in a party-line vote in committee on July 15, also requires the Bureau to continue planning for two different censuses -- one that uses scientific methods and one that doesn't - until the Supreme Court rules on legal challenges to the constitutionality and legality of sampling. In a July 15 letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Bob Livingston (R-LA), Office of Management and Budget head Jacob Lew said that the President's senior advisers would recommend a veto of the Commerce spending bill if it includes the restrictions on full funding for 2000 census activities. Hispanic legislators weigh-in: The Congressional Hispanic Caucus plans a press conference at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 22, at the House Triangle, to call for unrestricted full funding for the 2000 census. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-CA), chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, said last week that Hispanic legislators would "hold this Congress hostage" if congressional leaders refused to drop the six-month funding cap for the 2000 census. "[W]e're not going to let all these folks that deserve to be counted be held hostage by this Congress because the Congress is unwilling to provide the dollars to fund the census properly," Becerra said after a meeting with Vice President Albert Gore to discuss efforts to ensure an accurate count. Census Bureau evaluations showed that the 1990 count missed almost five percent of Hispanic Americans. Census 'Long Form' Legislation: Rep. Dan Miller (R-FL), chairman of the House census subcommittee, and Rep. Rick White (R-WA) introduced a bill (H.R. 4270) on July 17 to require the addition of two questions on the census long form. The new questions would ask if the household has a personal computer and if the household is connected to the Internet. In a written statement, Chairman Miller said that "it is appropriate that we use the 2000 census to get a handle on just how widespread home computers and Internet access have become." H.R. 4270 was referred to the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight; no hearings have been scheduled yet. In March 1997, the Census Bureau submitted to Congress the subject matters of questions it plans to ask in the 2000 census. The Bureau only included the collection of data that is required to implement a federal law or program. The 2000 census schedule calls for awarding a contract for questionnaire printing by the end of this year; printing must begin in April 1999. Upcoming briefing: The National Council of Women's Organizations is sponsoring a briefing, "Down for the Count? How the Census Affects Women and Families." The event will be on July 24, 10:00 - 11:00 a.m., in room 2203 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, D.C. Please call Pat Reuss or Elsa Fan, at 202/544-4470, for further information (RSVP not required). Stakeholder activities: The Census 2000 Initiative and the Leadership Conference Education Fund hosted an educational briefing for reporters at the National Press Club on July 20. Three census experts talked about the best ways to ensure an accurate census and answered questions about the use of scientific methods to supplement direct counting efforts. The panelists were Dr. Eugene Ericksen, Temple University, co-chair of the Special Advisory Panel that advised the Secretary of Commerce on adjustment of the 1990 census; Dr. Robert Hill, Morgan State University, noted author of books on the black family and a member of the Census Bureau's Advisory Committee on the African American Population; and Dr. Lynne Billard, University of Georgia, former President of the American Statistical Association who created a blue ribbon panel in 1996 to examine the use of sampling methods to improve census accuracy and contain costs. Secretary of Commerce William Daley plans to discuss the 2000 census plan in a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures in Las Vegas on July 22. NCSL is a member of the Secretary's 2000 Census Advisory Committee. Helpful reading: The U.S. General Accounting Office has issued a report on the history of key policy issues affecting the census. The report, "Decennial Census: Overview of Historical Census Issues" (GAO/GGD-98-103, May 1998) can be ordered by calling 202/512-6000 or writing to GAO at P.O. Box 37050, Washington, D.C. 20013. GAO's web site is <http://www.gao.gov>. Administrative Note: We would like to apologize to those of you who receive our News Alerts by fax. Due to a technical glitch, multiple copies of the latest News Alert were sent out. We regret any inconvenience. Questions about the information contained in this News Alert may be directed to TerriAnn Lowenthal at (202) 484-2270 or, by e-mail at &lt;terriann2k(a)aol.com&gt;om>. Please direct all requests to receive News Alerts, and all changes in address/phone/fax/e-mail, to Keri Monihan at &lt;kmonihan(a)ccmc.org&gt; or 202/326-8728. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals.