From: Census2000 &lt;Census2000(a)ccmc.org&gt; Census Bureau Funding Set through September 30th Census Monitoring Board Co-Chair Resigns Congress is expected to give final approval today to an emergency spending bill that includes extra funds for census preparations this year and lifts a restriction that prevented the Census Bureau and other major government departments from spending money past June 15. The bill also requires the Administration to submit to Congress, by June 1, a revised budget request for fiscal year 2000 (which begins October 1, 1999). The 1999 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act (H.R. 1141) allocates an additional $44.9 million for Census 2000 activities in the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999. This amount is over and above the $1.027 billion already appropriated for Census 2000 for the current fiscal year. The Bureau must expand its operational capacity to support follow-up visits to all households that don't return a census form by mail. In the final bill enacted this week, Congress earmarked the extra funds as follows: * $10.9 million for opening and staffing the 520 local census offices; * $ 4.2 million for training and operational kits for census enumerators; * $ 2.0 million for Telephone Questionnaire Assistance infrastructure; * $ 9.1 million for data processing and telecommunications to support increased door-to-door follow-up activities; * $ 3.7 million for expanded administrative requirements associated with more door-to-door follow-up visits; and * $15.0 million for advertising and promotion. The Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, and the federal judiciary, faced a shutdown after June 15 unless the opposing sides in the dispute over using statistical sampling methods in the census agreed to extend the spending authority for that broad budget account through the end of fiscal year 1999. The FY99 Commerce appropriations bill, enacted last fall, allocated a full year of funds for the covered agencies but terminated their authority to spend money after June 15. The Census Bureau is an agency of the Commerce Department. Funding for 2000: Even as Congress completes action on the supplemental spending bill for the current fiscal year, it is facing tight spending limits on funding for fiscal year 2000 (FY2000). House appropriators have allocated funds available for discretionary spending in FY2000 among the 13 regular funding accounts. The Commerce, Justice, and State, The Judiciary and Related Agencies account received about $30.4 billion, $2.7 billion below the total amount allocated for the account this year. The Senate Appropriations Committee plans to divide up the discretionary funds among its 13 subcommittees next week. The Administration's original FY2000 request of $2.8 billion for Census 2000 activities was compiled before the Census Bureau revised its operational plan to comply with the January Supreme Court ruling on the use of sampling methods for congressional apportionment. That amount is $1.8 billion more than this year's funding amount. The revised plan, which includes follow-up visits to all households that don't return a census form by mail, is expected to cost significantly more than the Bureau's original plan. The Commerce/Justice/State appropriations subcommittee, chaired in the House by Rep. Harold Rogers (R-KY), must figure out how to provide a significant spending increase for the 2000 census over the current level while meeting the overall lower funding cap for the agencies and programs included in the same account. Census Monitoring Board co-chair resigns: Tony Coelho, the Democratic co-chair of the Census Monitoring Board, has resigned to devote his attention to his new post as General Chairman of Vice President Albert Gore's presidential campaign. The eight-member Board was created in late 1997 as part of a compromise agreement between Congress and the Administration to resolve a stalemate over the use of sampling methods in the census. Mr. Coelho represented California's Central Valley in Congress from 1979 - 89. After leaving Congress, he pursued a career in the business sector and since 1994, has chaired the President's Commission on Employment of People with Disabilities. In his letter of resignation to the President, Mr. Coelho said the Board "has made many positive contributions to the Census Bureau's preparations for the 2000 decennial." He also praised the Census Bureau's staff as "among the most dedicated public servants in all of government." The President has not yet named a replacement for Mr. Coelho. State legislative activities: Colorado and Kansas have enacted laws that prohibit the use of census data derived with statistical sampling methods for congressional and state legislative redistricting. Arizona and Alaska have also passed similar laws that are subject to review by the U.S. Department of Justice under "pre-clearance" provisions of the Voting Rights Act. Colorado Governor Bill Owens (Republican) signed Senate Bill 206, which requires the General Assembly and reapportionment commission to use the same data for redistricting that is used to apportion the 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives among the 50 states. The Supreme Court ruled in January that federal law bars the use of sampling methods to calculate the state population totals used for congressional apportionment. Kansas Governor Bill Graves (Republican) signed Senate Bill 351, requiring the state to use census figures "identical" to the "actual enumeration" data used for congressional apportionment, to draw district boundaries. Stakeholder activities: The Commerce Department's 2000 Census Advisory Committee will hold its next quarterly meeting on June 17 - 18, at the Hilton Washington Embassy Row Hotel, 2015 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. The committee's charter was renewed earlier this year; Dallas (TX) Mayor Ronald Kirk is the panel's new chairman. The meeting will run from 9:00 - 5:15 p.m. on June 17 and 9:00 - 12:15 p.m. on June 18. 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>. For copies of previous News Alerts and other information, use our web site www.census2000.org <http://www.census2000.org>. 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