From: Census2000 <Census2000(a)ccmc.org> Sampling Opponents Criticize Revised Census 2000 Plan; More Litigation Looming over Use of Sampling Opponents of sampling in the census harshly criticized the Census Bureau's revised plan for Census 2000, unveiled at a press conference yesterday by Bureau Director Kenneth Prewitt, while supporters of scientific methods said the Bureau must be allowed to implement its plan without further interference from Congress. House Census Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) called the new plan "irresponsible" and "a recipe for disaster." He said the publication of two sets of census numbers - one at the state level for congressional apportionment and a second, more detailed set corrected for undercounts and overcounts measured by a quality-check survey, will "confuse and confound the American people. The Census Bureau is peddling snake oil and they're headed for your neighborhood," Rep. Miller said at a press conference following the Bureau's announcement. The chairman suggested that the "second, manipulated number[s]" would trigger increased litigation, but said "Congress remains ready to work with the Administration and Congressional Democrats on ways that will help count the American people, not create a new field of litigation - census law". After the Supreme Court ruled 5 - 4 that federal law barred the use of sampling methods to compile the state population totals used for congressional apportionment, Rep. Miller proposed several enhancements to the traditional census design. The census subcommittee, without any of its Democratic members present, approved one element of that proposal - a nine week review of preliminary household counts by local governments - two weeks ago. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), the subcommittee's senior Democrat, praised the Bureau for "a blue print for obtaining the most accurate count possible" in 2000. She said the Supreme Court ruling prohibited sampling only for apportionment but required the use of scientific methods for all other purposes if the Bureau considered it feasible. Saying the Republican majority in Congress wanted to "spend billions more for a less accurate census," Rep. Maloney described opposition to the plan as "something out of 'Alice in Wonderland' - you put in more, you get less." Other congressional reaction to the revised Census 2000 plan was similarly divided. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), a former census oversight chairman, said he was "disappointed that the Clinton-Gore Administration apparently will not allow the professionals at the Census Bureau to actually count everyone." The Speaker accused the Census Bureau of a "political flip-flop on census guessing," noting that the Bureau's original plan called for one set of census numbers to avoid confusion and controversy. House Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO) called the plan "an important step toward the goal of carrying out the most accurate possible 2000 census." He said the Bureau "should be permitted to go forward without unwarranted political interference from Republicans in Congress." Wade Henderson, Executive Director of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, said the redesigned quality-check survey (called the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation, or ACE, program) "will ensure the numbers used for non-apportionment purposes in 2000 are the fairest and most accurate." Civil rights advocates would work with grassroots organizations, Mr. Henderson said, to encourage support for the new plan. Supreme Court litigant vows return to court: Matthew Glavin, President of the Atlanta-based Southeastern Legal Foundation (SLF), said his organization would take "swift legal action against this administration to prevent the unconstitutional use of statistical sampling" in the 2000 census. Mr. Glavin accused the President "and his allies" of trying to "achieve by political fiat what they could not accomplish by legal means - the skewering of American representative democracy for partisan expediency." He said SLF would seek a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief to prevent the Bureau from producing census numbers based on sampling for intra-state redistricting. The high court granted standing to Mr. Glavin, co-plaintiff Rep. Bob Barr (R-GA), and other individual litigants in their legal challenge to the Census Bureau's original plan to use scientific techniques in the census. The Court's ruling did not address the constitutionality of the proposed sampling methods. Interested stakeholders can obtain more information about SLF's census litigation on the organization's web site, at www.southeasternlegal.org http://www.southeasternlegal.org. Census legislation: Rep. Carrie Meek (D-FL) has reintroduced a bill to widen the labor pool for Census 2000 by waiving income earned as a temporary census employee in determining eligibility for certain federal benefits and payments, such as food stamps, Medicaid, and pensions for military and federal retirees. Census subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller (R-FL) and the panel's senior Democrat, Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), are both cosponsors of the Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1999 (H.R. 683), which was referred to their committee for consideration. In a letter to her colleagues seeking support for her bill, Rep. Meek said that H.R. 638 would help the Bureau recruit and hire enumerators who live in the hardest-to-count communities. To expand the labor pool for the 1990 census, Congress passed legislation to waive provisions of law that penalized military and federal retirees who returned to work for the federal government by reducing their monthly pension benefits during the period of employment. Clarification: In the February 24 News Alert, we inadvertently listed next week's hearing of the House Subcommittee on the Census for Tuesday, March 1. The correct date is Tuesday, March 2. We apologize for any confusion. 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>om>. 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.