Congressional Update . . . October 18, 2004

In response to a less-than-adequate Fiscal Year 2005 allocation by the Senate appropriations committee to support the American Community Survey, the ASA has sent letters to the top leadership (majority and minority) of the appropriations committees in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate, urging them to fully support the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (ACS). (Read sample letter.) Funding for full implementation of the Survey -- developed to replace the Census Bureau's traditional, but much less useful, decennial long form in 2010 -- is in serious trouble because of the Senate committee action.

As of mid-October, the House has allocated $146 million for a nationwide launch of the ACS in 2005. That is $19 million below the Census Bureau's budget request of $165 million, but it is sufficient to launch the full survey without group quarters in the first year. The Senate appropriations committee, however, allocated considerably less ($65 million), the same level as FY 2004, but this is not enough to advance beyond the current test sites and the limited national, preliminary "Supplementary Survey."

Census Bureau Director Louis Kincannon has reacted by informing Congress that the Bureau would have to abandon plans for the ACS and begin planning for a 2010 census that includes a long form, if the agency does not receive close to the House funding level (a minimum of $142 million). The agency is preparing in 2005 for additional census tests in 2006, and the Bureau does not want to risk being unprepared for a long form census, if Congress does not commit to full funding of ACS.

ASA sent letters to the top ranking and minority leadership of the Senate and House committees: Senator Judd Gregg, Chairman, Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary; Representative Frank R. Wolf, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, Judiciary, and Related Agencies; Senator Ernest F. Hollings, Ranking Minority Member on the Senate subcommittee; and Representative Jose E. Serrano, Ranking Minority Member on the House subcommittee.

In addition, ASA is working concurrently with other Washington-based advocacy organizations (e.g., the Consortium of Social Science Organzations, Population Association of America, Association of Population Centers, The Communications Consortium Media Center, which organized the Census 2000 Initiative) to press the conferees to fund the ACS adequately in FY 2005.

Note: See page 2 (Vantage Point column) of the November 2004 issue of ASA's Footnotes newsletter (in press as of November 3) for the ASA Executive Officer's comments on the wide-ranging value of the ACS.