from : Census2000 <census2000(a)ccmc.org> President Bush Sends FY04 Budget To Congress; Census Bureau Would Scale Back Test Plans Under Proposed Funding Levels President George W. Bush sent his detailed budget proposal to Congress yesterday, seeking funds for federal programs and activities in fiscal year 2004 (FY04). The budget includes $662 million for the Census Bureau, $43.3 million less than the Administration’s fiscal year 2003 (FY03) budget request. Even though the FY04 proposal includes $65.4 million for program improvements, it would require some reductions in 2010 census planning activities, such as two instead of three sites for the 2004 census field test. Recommended increases would be offset by reductions in funding for cyclical programs, including the 2002 Economic Census and Census of Governments, and the 2000 decennial census. The Administration requested $272 million to plan for the 2010 census, an increase of about $56 million over its request for these activities in FY03. (There is no budget baseline for the current fiscal year because Congress has not finished work on FY03 appropriations for the Census Bureau and most other federal agencies.) According to documents explaining the budget, funding for 2010 census planning would cover “extensive planning, testing and development activities to support the re-engineered short form only 2010 census,” “implementation of the American Community Survey to collect ‘long form’ data,” and enhancing the address list (Master Address File) and geographic database (TIGER system) by “correcting the accuracy of map feature locations in 600 of the nation’s 3,232 counties.” The three major components of the 2010 census plan, the Administration said, are “highly integrated [and] complement each other.” Budget documents available yesterday did not offer further details on how 2010 census planning funds would be allocated among activities. The Census Bureau asked for roughly $124 million to implement the American Community Survey nationwide in 2003 (excluding group quarters coverage); it now hopes to launch the long form-replacement survey in 2004. Budget summaries available from the Census Bureau and Commerce Department (of which the bureau is a part) indicated that the Bureau would conduct the first major census field test in two, rather than three, sites. The Bureau announced last fall that the 2004 Census Test would take place in parts of Queens County, New York; Lake County, Illinois; and Colquitt, Thomas, and Tift Counties in Georgia. Revised plans would eliminate the Illinois site and reduce the workload in Queens County. The 2004 test will evaluate several new technologies, such as hand-held computing devices to collect responses during door-to-door visits and use of global positioning systems (GPS) to put addresses in the correct location, as well as other operational and methodological improvements. (The Bureau has announced plans to evaluate the feasibility of counting private American citizens living abroad in the census; the 2004 Overseas Enumeration Test would take place in France, Kuwait, and Mexico.) The Administration also is seeking funds to continue rebuilding Census Bureau headquarters in Suitland, Maryland. The budget proposal includes $147 million to construct one of two new buildings; the Commerce Department described the current headquarters facilities as “among the worst in the federal government … [they] have decayed beyond the point where renovation would be cost-effective.” The proposed money for the new headquarters is not reflected in the budget figures for the Bureau, however. Funding for the decennial census is part of the Periodic Censuses and Programs ("Periodics") account, one of two main funding categories for the Census Bureau. The Periodics account covers activities that support census operations, such as mapping and address list development, and other cyclical programs including the censuses of business establishments and local governments. The total FY04 request for the Periodics account is $453 million, which assumes a projected carry-over of $12 million from a prior budget year. The Periodics request for FY03 was $500 million. The Bureau's second main funding category is Salaries and Expenses (S & E), which covers ongoing surveys (such as the Current Population Survey) to collect important demographic, economic, and social data. The President proposed $241 million for the S & E account, $16 million more than his FY03 request. In addition to 2010 census planning, the budget request for Periodic Censuses and Programs includes the following proposed activities: Economic Census $ 74 million Census of Governments $ 6 million Intercensal demographic estimates $ 9 million Demographic surveys sample redesign $ 13 million Electronic information collection $ 7 million Geographic support $ 41 million Data processing $ 31 million 2010 decennial census $272 million Total direct program request $453 million Fiscal Year 2004 begins on October 1, 2003. Without final appropriations for FY03, non-defense agencies continue to operate under a Continuing Resolution, at last year’s funding levels. The ninth temporary funding measure expires on February 7. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent consultant in Washington, DC. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at 202/484-2270 or by e-mail at <terriann2k(a)aol.com>om>. Thank you to the Communications Consortium Media Center for posting the News Briefs on the Census 2000 Initiative web site, at www.census2000.org. Please feel free to circulate this information to colleagues and other interested individuals. ----- Ed Christopher Metropolitan Activities Midwest Resource Center Federal Highway Administration 19900 Governors Drive Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461 708-283-3534 (V) 708-283-3501 (F)