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by Ed Christopher

CENSUS NOMINEE PREPARES FOR CONFIRMATION HEARING Plus: 2010 Advisory Panel Meets As Dr. Robert Groves, President Obama’s nominee to head the Census Bureau, prepares for his Senate confirmation hearing, critics are seeking assurances that “statistical adjustment of the 2010 Census will not occur under his leadership,” according to a press statement by Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Ranking Member on the House census oversight subcommittee. The hearing, originally scheduled for tomorrow, has been rescheduled for Friday, May 15, at 9:30 AM. Rep. McHenry offered the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, which will hold the confirmation hearing, four questions to ask Dr. Groves, who served as a Census Bureau Associate Director (a career position) during the 1990 count. The congressman suggested that the nominee’s support for a statistical adjustment of that census – as a member of a nine-member expert panel appointed by Census Director Barbara Everitt Bryant – amounted to “political tampering [that was] well-documented and rightly rejected.” The expert panel supported, 7 – 2, using the results of an independent quality-check survey to adjust the 1990 population numbers to correct undercounts and overcounts; Dr. Bryant agreed with the recommendation, but Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher rejected it. Rep. McHenry said the President’s choice of Dr. Groves to head the Census Bureau “raises fresh concerns about the White House’s desire to manipulate Census data for partisan advantage.” Rep. McHenry’s description of statistical adjustment as a partisan effort to manipulate the population count is at odds with the position of many Republicans following the 1990 census, when Secretary Mosbacher was considering whether to accept the Census Bureau’s proposal to adjust the raw census numbers, and later when the newly-elected Clinton Administration faced legal challenges to the Secretary’s anti-adjustment decision. Before the Secretary rejected Dr. Bryant’s statistical adjustment recommendation in July 1991, then-Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA) urged the Commerce chief in an April 30, 1991 letter to statistically adjust “Georgia’s population figures to reflect the correct population,” saying the estimated state undercount of over 200,000 people might entitle Georgia to another seat in Congress and would “seriously dilut[e]” minority voting strength in the state. Last month on a National Public Radio All Things Considered program on the census (April 20, 2009), the former House Speaker said Republicans “are very worried …that somebody will try to apply some kind of abstract, theoretical, statistical model, which will totally distort the system.” Mr. Gingrich called the idea of using “statistical sampling” to account for people missed in the census “pretty whacked” and said he believed the Obama Administration would “try to use a statistical analysis to rig the game” after the census is finished. Other Republican proponents of statistically adjusting the 1990 census included Sen. Lauch Faircloth (R-NC), Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), Sen. Connie Mack (R-FL), Sen. John Warner (R-VA), and Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), now the Ranking Member on the Senate Appropriations Committee. In an August 18, 1994 letter to President Clinton, 32 members of the Congressional Sunbelt Caucus from both political parties urged the Administration not to appeal a Second Circuit Court of Appeals ruling overturning Secretary Mosbacher’s decision not to adjust the 1990 count. (The U.S. Supreme Court later upheld the Secretary’s decision, saying it was not “arbitrary and capricious” under the Administrative Procedures Act.) The Sunbelt Caucus members wrote, “Failure to adjust the census count meant denying the existence of 4 million people. It also has meant that federal funds did not follow the significant population shifts of the 1980s.” The lawmakers concluded by saying, “The inclusion of the undercount numbers will finally make accuracy in the 1990 Census possible. The adjusted census numbers guarantee that states, cities and counties will finally receive their fair share.” Rep. McHenry urged senators to ask Dr. Groves how he would respond to White House efforts “to exert political influence” over the census process, whether he will reject the possibility of adjusting the 2010 census “under any circumstances,” and why the nonprofit community organization ACORN should be a 2010 census “partner,” in light of “its pattern of criminal misconduct.” The Associated Press reported last week (May 7, 2009) that Dr. Groves, in written responses to traditional pre-hearing questions, told the Senate oversight committee that, “If the director is perceived to be a pawn of one or another political ideological perspective, the credibility of the statistical system is threatened.” The nominee said he would resign if faced with partisan interference from the White House, according to the AP article. 2010 advisory committee holds Spring meeting: The 2010 Census Advisory Committee (CAC) held its bi-annual meeting at Census Bureau headquarters, covering a wide range of topics, including the status of 2010 census preparations and early field work, the Communications Campaign, and the American Community Survey. The committee, led by its newly appointed chairman and National Urban League President Marc Morial, heard presentations from agency staff on the progress of address canvassing and the 2010 Census Partnership Program, as well as plans for following-up by telephone with households whose forms indicate that people might have been left off the form or included by mistake (Coverage Follow Up operation) and for measuring the accuracy of the census through an independent quality-check survey (Census Coverage Measurement program). Acting Census Director Thomas Mesenbourg reported that the handheld computers being used to verify addresses on the master list were “performing exceptionally well.” Associate Director for Decennial Census Arnold Jackson said that the Census Bureau has been able to hire a “higher quality workforce” than expected; Associate Director for Field Operations Marilia Matos added that the agency had exceeded its recruitment goals for the address listing operation, which will end in July. There are 150 Local Census Offices (LCOs) involved in field activities across the country this spring; the Census Bureau is completing leases for the remaining 344 LCOs, which will open in the fall. Next year, the bureau will recruit 3.8 million people to fill about 1.4 million temporary positions to conduct the census. Draftfcb, the prime contractor for the 2010 Census Communications Campaign – which includes paid advertising, outreach, and Census in the Schools – discussed its “creative” materials for paid advertisements, which recently came under criticism from the bureau’s Joint Advertising Advisory Review Panel and five Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees. Company representatives said they must begin to produce advertisements by August 1 in order to begin airing ads in January 2010. Mr. Mesenbourg said he was “confident” the 2010 census advertising campaign would be effective and noted that “it is still early in the process” of developing the campaign. The 2010 CAC unanimously recommended that the Census Bureau reconsider its decision to re-code as “unmarried partners,” responses to the “relationship question” that indicate a gay married couple. (See March 29 Census News Brief for more information on this issue.) Last month, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn wrote to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, urging the Census Bureau to report data on same-sex married couple responses in the 2010 census, as it would for all people who report they are married. The mayor and council chief said they were concerned that the current tabulation plans “could discourage [lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender] New Yorkers from fully participating in census efforts.” The advisory committee also expressed concern about the decision not to include messages on the “advance letter” in languages other than English, a change from Census 2000, when the letter sent to all households in advance of the arrival of census forms included information in several languages (and a toll-free number) about the availability of in-language questionnaires. The Census Bureau said the 2000 census procedure resulted in some households receiving and mailing back questionnaires in English and another language, and that it received only 100,000 telephone requests for an in-language form as a result of the advance letter, a number it said did not justify the resulting operational difficulties. Census Bureau officials said they would rely instead on partner organizations and advertising to spread the word about language assistance to limited-English proficiency households. Did You Know? For the average person, the decennial census (if they’ve thought about it at all) can elicit a yawn – nothing much exciting to consider. Knowledgeable census stakeholders know better: The census is one of the nation’s most vital civic activities, important enough to be mentioned in the second section of Article I of the U.S. Constitution. There are many fascinating facts about the census; sharing them with other stakeholders might help increase interest in the census and mobilize more people to participate. So we will start a new occasional Census News Brief feature, to share less-widely-known information that will help census stakeholders better understand census history and the daunting task facing the Census Bureau’s dedicated, experienced staff. In the 2010 census, for the first time, the Census Bureau has a specific plan to contact traveling carnivals, circuses, and fairs, to determine where they will be on Census Day and to make arrangements to distribute census forms to their employees. Traveling workers will be allowed to designate their “usual place of residence;” those who don’t will be counted as residents of the city in which their show or event is stationed on Census Day. Who knew? Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is a consultant to the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Previous Census News Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA Resource Center 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Census News Brief

by Ed Christopher

May 7, 2009 PRESIDENT RELEASES DETAILED 2010 BUDGET REQUEST President Obama sent his detailed Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010) budget proposal to Congress today, continuing the process for funding federal programs starting October 1, 2009. The budget seeks $7.375 billion for the U.S. Census Bureau, more than twice this year’s appropriation of $3.14 billion. The projected “life cycle” cost of the 2010 census is $13.7 – 14.5 billion; an additional $1 billion allocated in the “stimulus bill” will increase that figure. Historically, about half of the total census cost is spent in the census year alone. Congress has asked the Census Bureau for an updated cost estimate. 2010 census: The Administration requested about $6.97 billion in new budget authority for the 2010 census, well more than double the FY2009 allocation of $2.7 billion. In 2010, the Census Bureau will: • open and staff remaining Local Census Offices (for a total of almost 500); • recruit 3.8 million and hire 1.4 million temporary employees to conduct the census; • finalize data capture, data processing, and telecommunications systems; • print 140+ million census questionnaires and other materials (e.g. advance letter); • launch a national advertising campaign; • hire additional national and regional staff to oversee field operations; • collect census information from every residential housing unit and group quarters in the country, using the mail, telephone, and door-to-door visits; and • conduct an accuracy-check survey (Census Coverage Measurement). The Census Bureau expects to spend roughly $7.8 billion on the decennial census in FY2010, once funds carried over from 2009 – including much of the stimulus money-- are added to the requested amount. Some decennial census activities, including final tabulation of population and housing unit totals, occur in Fiscal Year 2011, which starts October 1, 2010. The American Community Survey (ACS) will continue nationwide, as this replacement for the traditional census long form moves closer to providing the first demographic, economic, and housing characteristics data for areas as small as census tracts and block groups in 2010, based on five years worth of data collection (2005 – 2009). The budget proposes reinstating the Community Address Updating System (CAUS), which was developed early in the ACS implementation cycle to help the Census Bureau maintain an updated address list throughout the decade in rural and remote areas, where housing units may not have traditional city-style addresses. 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 President’s budget seeks $7.116 billion for Periodics in FY2010, an increase of $4.2 billion over the FY2009 $2.91 billion allocation. The Periodics account covers activities related to the census, intercensal population estimates, and other cyclical programs such as the Economic Census and Census of Governments. Economic statistics: The second main funding category for the Census Bureau is Salaries and Expenses (S & E). The S & E account covers ongoing surveys, including the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and Quarterly Financial Surveys, to collect important demographic, economic, and social data. The budget proposes $259 million for Salaries and Expenses, an increase of $25.4 million over this year’s funding level of $233.6 million for discretionary programs. (The S & E request also includes $30 million in mandatory spending for surveys on income and health insurance required by federal law.) The Administration’s S & E request includes a new initiative to expand the Local Employment Dynamics Program, which develops information about local labor market conditions. In 2010, the Census Bureau will publish data from the 2007 Economic Census. The data is collected in 2008, reflecting 2007 activities and information. The President requested $112 million for the Economic Census, a decrease of $5 million from 2009, to publish all remaining data from the survey and begin planning for the next one. The Economic Census, funded through the Periodics account, covers the manufacturing, mining, retail and wholesale trade service, construction, and transportation industries. Along with the Census of Governments, it is taken every five years, in years ending in “2” and “7.” 2010 is the last year of the six-year 2007 Economic Census cycle and the first year of the 2012 Economic Census cycle. Bureau of Economic Analysis: The Census Bureau is one of two statistical agencies under the Commerce Department’s Economic and Statistics Administration (ESA). The second agency, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), produces key economic statistics, including Gross Domestic Product (GDP), that support U.S. monetary and fiscal policies, trade negotiations, business planning, and personal savings and investment decisions. The President asked for $105 million for BEA and ESA in FY2010, roughly $14 million more than the FY2009 $90.6 million funding level. The Administration is proposing four initiatives “to significantly improve BEA’s measurement of the U.S. economy,” covering the service sector, new and expanded components of GDP, county-level personal income, and foreign direct investment. Editor’s note: This Census News Brief is based on information released this morning about the President’s budget request. We will keep stakeholders informed and refine this information as more becomes available in the coming days. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations. Ms. Lowenthal is a consultant to the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC. Previous Census News Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Leon Kotecki is out of the office.

by Leon.Kotecki＠mymanatee.org

I will be out of the office starting 04/30/2009 and will not return until 05/06/2009. I am out of the office indefinitely at this time. Please contact Janette Lawson ext. 6855 or Kathleen Thompson ext. 6841for assistance.

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] (no subject)

by Michaels.Harvey＠epamail.epa.gov

I will be out of the office starting 05/05/2009 and will not return until 05/07/2009. I will respond to your message when I return.

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Census News Brief

by Ed Christopher

May 5, 2009 CENSUS NEWS ROUND-UP On May 7, the President is expected to release his detailed budget request for Fiscal Year 2010, which begins October 1, 2009 and includes funding for final census preparations such as staffing all Local Census Offices (LCOs), launch of the 2010 census advertising campaign, and implementation of the census through mailed and hand-delivered questionnaires and follow-up visits to unresponsive households. Look for a Census News Brief outlining the detailed request later this week. Also high on the radar screen for census stakeholders: The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs will hold a hearing on May 12 (2:30 PM) to consider the nomination of Dr. Robert Groves to be director of the U.S. Census Bureau. (See April 2, 2009 Census News Briefs for more information on the nominee and reaction to the selection.) In the meantime, here’s a round-up of other recent 2010 census news: Obama Administration appointments continue: The Obama Administration has appointed William A. Ramos, Washington Office Director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund, to be the Commerce Department’s Director of Intergovernmental Affairs. Mr. Ramos served as NALEO’s alternate representative to the 2010 Census Advisory Committee (CAC). In a congratulatory statement, NALEO noted that Mr. Ramos’ new duties are “particularly critical for the success of Census 2010 outreach efforts, which must involve effective partnerships between the Census Bureau and state and local governments.” The position does not require Senate confirmation. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke has selected National Urban League President and CEO Marc H. Morial to be the new chairman of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee. The former two-term New Orleans mayor became head of the Urban League, a civil rights and direct services organization serving African Americans and other ethnic communities, in 2003. Mr. Morial is also a former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The 2010 CAC (previously called the Decennial Census Advisory Committee), one of seven official Census Bureau advisory committees, was established in 1991 and rechartered every two years thereafter. The panel, comprised of organizations representing a broad cross-section of census data users, advises the Commerce Secretary and Census Director on issues such as census design and data products and dissemination. Its spring meeting will take place at Census Bureau headquarters on May 7-8, 2009. Current 2010 CAC Chairman A. Mark Neuman and Vice Chairman Pastor Lee Adams, Jr. will step down from their posts; both were appointed during the Bush Administration. It has been traditional for a new Administration to appoint its own candidates to the 2010 CAC’s two top posts. Catholic Bishops urge census participation: The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, through its Secretariat of Cultural Diversity in the Church, has become an official 2010 census partner and is urging its 25,000 parishes and missions to encourage census participation. Archbishop José Gomez of San Antonio noted that, “some of the populations we serve tend to normally be undercounted;” other Conference officials cited the importance of an accurate count to the fair allocation of resources and political representation. In contrast to a call by some Latino evangelical clergy for undocumented immigrants to boycott the census (see April 29 Census News Brief), Alejandro Aguilera, the Secretariat’s assistant director for Hispanic Affaires, said in a statement, “We urge Hispanics/Latinos to make sure they are counted.” Legislative update: Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the Census Bureau, has indicated his support for changing the Census director’s term of service to a five-year fixed term. At an April 30 subcommittee hearing on federal technology management, Chairman Carper said that the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee (of which his panel is a part) is likely to consider legislation giving the Census Director a fixed term, similar to terms for the Internal Revenue Service and Bureau of Labor Statistics commissioners, and National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health directors, among others. He suggested that frequent turnover at the top of federal agencies “feeds the lack of oversight and supervision” of information technology projects. The Census Bureau’s Field Data Collection Automation (FDCA) contract, to provide GPS-equipped handheld computers for census field work and to control the data collection operating system, was revised substantially in 2008 after tests of the handheld devices failed to meet expectations. The five-year Director’s term proposal is included in a bill Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) introduced earlier this year (H.R. 1254), to establish the Census Bureau as an independent federal agency. The Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, which Sen. Carper chairs, will hold a field hearing in Philadelphia to review efforts to “avoid chronic undercounting” in the 2010 census. The panel noted in a press release that Philadelphia’s 2000 census mail response rate was 56 percent, compared to a national rate of 67 percent. At the hearing, entitled “Making the Census Count in Urban America,” the subcommittee will explore outreach strategies and challenges to achieving an accurate census in hard-to-count communities. The hearing will be held on May 11, at 1:00 PM in the National Constitution Center, Kirby Auditorium. Witnesses will include Acting Census Director Thomas Mesenbourg; the mayors of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware; Pat Coulter, executive director, Philadelphia Urban League; and representatives of Pennsylvania and Delaware’s state advisory panels on Latino affairs. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations and to reprint any or all of the information. Previous Census News Briefs are posted on the Census Project web site, at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA Resource Center 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Diana Portillo is out of the office.

by Diana Portillo

I will be out of the office starting 04/29/2009 and will not return until 04/30/2009.

16 years, 3 months

Re: [CTPP] Census News Brief

by Nathan Erlbaum

hellooooo....ya think!!!!!! Secretary Locke testified yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. In his opening statement, panel Chairman Alan Mollohan (D-WV) said the 2010 census “has been beset by a lack of management and oversight, a lack of acquisitions expertise, and a lack of transparency by an agency whose culture is perceived as so impenetrable as to be self-defeating.” He noted that the revised contract for handheld computers, which limited use of the devices to address canvassing this year, has “renewed some confidence” in the Census Bureau, but that “great risk remains” in the decennial census. >>> edc(a)berwyned.com 4/29/2009 11:45 AM >>> April 29, 2009 SECRETARY LOCKE PRESENTS 2010 BUDGET REQUEST TO APPROPRIATORS Plus: Latino leaders reject call for census boycott; Advisory panel expresses ‘no confidence’in paid ad campaign; and more. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke made his first appearance before the congressional Appropriations Committees in his new role as head of the department that oversees the U.S. Census Bureau. The Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held a hearing on April 23 to consider President Obama’s funding request for Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010), although the President has yet to release a detailed budget. (See February 26, 2009 Census News Brief for information on the President’s budget outline for FY2010.) Secretary Locke told appropriators that the Administration’s request of $13.8 billion in discretionary funds for the far-flung Commerce Department includes an increase of $4.3 billion over the Fiscal Year 2009 funding level for the 2010 census, for a likely total request of roughly $7 billion. The Census Bureau will have additional funds available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; the agency will spend the $1 billion stimulus bill allotment in both 2009 and 2010. Expenditures in 2010 could be in the range of $7.8 billion, including FY2009 allotments carried over to 2010. In his prepared statement, the Secretary assured lawmakers that the Census Bureau would have adequate funds to hire nearly 1.5 million temporary workers to carry out the census. He highlighted the importance of “extensive advertising and partnership activities on hard-to-reach populations, to encourage a high response rate.” Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said she was especially concerned about the FBI’s ability to process fingerprint and background checks for the large temporary workforce in a timely way next year. For the 2010 census, all census workers must clear FBI-administered background checks before they are hired and then fingerprint checks when their post-hiring training begins. In 2000, the FBI ran name-based background checks only on temporary census employees. Sen. Mikulski also cited concerns about management of the census, saying she was interested in learning about reforms to be sure the 2010 census “will not be delayed or compromised.” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the panel’s ranking member, said he was “concerned with the potential for political mischief in the execution of the 2010 census,” citing previous statements by a presidential spokesman about the White House’s role in overseeing the census. The senator noted that President Obama’s nominee for Census director, Dr. Robert Groves, supported a statistical adjustment of the 1990 census, a sample-based correction of the original census numbers that the senator said would “lazily backfill and inaccurately represent the count of our nation’s residents.” Sen. Shelby expressed concern that a political party could use sampling-based adjustments of the population count to steer more federal program dollars to communities represented by members of its own party. He also suggested that the White House or the Census Bureau could manipulate the census numbers “solely for political gain” by undercounting in some states and overcounting in others. The Census Bureau’s evaluation of accuracy in the 1990 census, when Dr. Groves served as an Associate Director at the agency (a career position), showed that all states were undercounted to some degree. (Alabama’s estimated undercount of about 1.8 percent was slightly higher than the estimated net national undercount of 1.6 percent in 1990.) Then-Census Director Barbara Everitt Bryant, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, recommended use of the accuracy-check survey (called the Post Enumeration Survey, or PES) to correct undercounts and overcounts in the 1990 census. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher rejected the recommendation. Calling the census “the most serious looming issue” facing the new Secretary, Sen. Shelby said the decision to use paper-and-pencil, instead of handheld computers, to collect information from unresponsive households was due to “managerial failures and incompetence” and would increase the total cost of the 2010 census to nearly $15 billion. Secretary Locke testified yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. In his opening statement, panel Chairman Alan Mollohan (D-WV) said the 2010 census “has been beset by a lack of management and oversight, a lack of acquisitions expertise, and a lack of transparency by an agency whose culture is perceived as so impenetrable as to be self-defeating.” He noted that the revised contract for handheld computers, which limited use of the devices to address canvassing this year, has “renewed some confidence” in the Census Bureau, but that “great risk remains” in the decennial census. Census Bureau outlines plans to spend stimulus funds: The Census Bureau has submitted to Congress its plans for spending an additional $1 billion allocated for the 2010 census in the stimulus package. “The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,” Commerce Secretary Locke said in a press statement. The agency will spend $250 million to expand its partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and other hard-to-reach populations, including $120 million to increase partnerships by hiring an additional 2,000 Partnership Specialists in regional offices by July 2009. It is adding $100 million to the broader communications plan, which includes paid advertising and the Census in the Schools program. The bureau will spend $30 million to hire more telephone interviewers working during the census from call centers to follow-up with households whose census questionnaires indicate – through answers to so-called ‘probe questions’ – that someone may have been left off the form or included mistakenly (Coverage Follow-Up operation). The remaining $750 million, the Census Bureau said, will “support early 2010 Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks.” Specific spending plans include enhancements to the following operations: ● Group Quarters enumeration (college dorms, prisons, military barracks, etc.) -- $138 million ● Update/Leave operation (census workers deliver questionnaires in remote areas and communities with hard-to-pinpoint addresses, and update address lists and maps as they go) -- $116 million ● Update/Enumerate operation (similar to Update/Leave, but census workers collect census responses as they visit housing units; used on American Indian reservations, colonias, and resort areas with high seasonal vacancy rates) -- $108 million ● Local Census Office (LCO) staffing (LCOs support all major census field operations; roughly 500 LCOs planned for 2010) -- $388 million Hispanic faith group rejects call for census boycott: The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) called on Latinos, “regardless of faith or legal status,” to participate in the 2010 census. The self-described “largest Hispanic faith organization” in the U.S. issued a statement last week after the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) urged undocumented residents to boycott the 2010 census unless Congress enacts “genuine immigration reform.” According to its web site, CONLAMIC works in “support of a comprehensive solution to the immigration crisis and to combat local anti-immigrant crackdowns." Rev. Miguel Rivera, CONLAMIC’s chairman, said in an article on the Coalition’s web site that, “Our church leaders have witnessed misuse of otherwise benign Census population data by state and local public officials in their efforts to pass and enact laws that assist in the perpetration of civil rights violations and abuses against undocumented workers and families.” Rev. Rivera urged the estimated 30 percent of his Coalition’s church members who are undocumented residents not to participate in the census until Congress and the Obama Administration approve comprehensive immigration legislation. CONLAMIC says it represents about 20,000 evangelical churches in 34 states. In an April 21, 2009 Associated Press report, Rev. Rivera also noted, “Even though they [undocumented immigrants] don't vote, they are being used as guinea pigs to get money for cities," an apparent reference to the use of census data to allocate nearly $400 billion annually in federal program funds to states and local governments. Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, Vice President of Social Justice for the NHCLC, countered COMLAMIC’s suggested benefits of a boycott, saying that fair political representation, allocation of resources, and tracking demographic change in the Latino community depended on an accurate count. “The clear majority of Latino advocacy and faith organizations support the efforts of the U.S. Census Bureau to count each person in America in 2010,” Rev. De Jesus said. Other Latino leaders also expressed disappointment in the boycott movement. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), said in a statement, “To not be counted would have political implications and jeopardize vital resources, including federal funding for schools, health care, job training and infrastructure.” Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), chairman of the CHC’s Civil Rights, Veterans, and Worker Protections Task Force, added, “Boycott groups are uniting and bringing attention to the important issue of immigration reform; though well intentioned, their efforts are failing to take into account the long-term implications of their actions. 2010 census numbers will affect the daily lives of all Hispanics throughout the next ten years; we must not let this important opportunity for representation pass us by.” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and a member of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee, said the strategy “may be well-intended but misguided and ultimately irresponsible.” Advisory panel expresses ‘no confidence’ in communications contractor: A panel of stakeholders advising the Census Bureau on the 2010 census paid advertising campaign issued a vote of “no confidence” in Draftfcb, the prime contractor responsible for the Communications program, which includes advertising and outreach to promote participation in the census. The Joint Advertising Advisory Review Panel (JAARP), comprised of representatives of the Census Bureau’s official advisory committees, met last week to review proposed ads Draftfcb developed for the national census promotion campaign. The Census Bureau’s five Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees (REACs), representing communities of color that are at higher risk of undercounting in the census and other Census Bureau surveys, concurred with JAARP’s ‘no confidence’ statement with respect to Draftfcb’s creative materials for the 2010 census general campaign, at their biannual meetings held later in the week. Former Census director to advise Census Bureau through 2010 count: Former Census director Kenneth Prewitt, who headed the Census Bureau during the 2000 census, will be a part-time consultant to the agency as it moves from final preparations to conduct the decennial count next year. A Commerce Department spokesman confirmed the arrangement to the Washington-based National Journal on Monday, after Republicans in the House of Representatives indicated they were drafting a letter to Secretary Gary Locke, protesting Dr. Prewitt’s “back door entry” to the agency without going through the formal confirmation process. In their letter to the Secretary, Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA), ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), senior Republican on the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, and two other Republican members of the census oversight subcommittee, said that the consulting arrangement could be viewed as “circumvention of congressional oversight” and “a blatant disregard” of the Senate’s confirmation role. The lawmakers requested specific information about the terms of Dr. Prewitt’s consulting agreement, including how much he will be paid, where his office is located, the nature of his work, and the projects on which he will work. The full text of the letter is available at http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/4-28-09PrewittCensus.pdf. Dr. Prewitt, now the Vice-President for Global Centers and Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs at Columbia University, was the leading choice for Census director in the new Administration, according to former Commerce Secretary nominee Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), until Dr. Prewitt withdrew his name from consideration. The National Journal article quoted Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a member of the census oversight subcommittee, as saying, “Considering former Secretary [Carlos] Gutierrez used [Prewitt] as a consultant, too, you have to ask why the Republicans are in such a tizzy,” a reference to Dr. Prewitt’s appointment last year to an expert panel advising the Commerce Secretary on options to modify the 2010 census plan after concerns about the performance of handheld computers came to light. New information on “hard to count” populations by State: The Census Project has posted a new table on its web site (www.thecensusproject.org, Fact Sheets) showing the percent of people in each State living in “hard-to-count” areas, by race and Hispanic origin. The new Fact Sheet explains how the Census Bureau defines hard-to-count areas; the analysis is based on 2000 census data from the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Planning Database, which the agency is using to target outreach, promotion, and other resources in communities that are at greater risk of an undercount. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations and to reprint any or all of the information. Previous Census News Briefs are posted on the Census Project web site, at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461 _______________________________________________ ctpp-news mailing list ctpp-news(a)chrispy.net http://www.chrispy.net/mailman/listinfo/ctpp-news

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Census News Brief

by Ed Christopher

April 29, 2009 SECRETARY LOCKE PRESENTS 2010 BUDGET REQUEST TO APPROPRIATORS Plus: Latino leaders reject call for census boycott; Advisory panel expresses ‘no confidence’in paid ad campaign; and more. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke made his first appearance before the congressional Appropriations Committees in his new role as head of the department that oversees the U.S. Census Bureau. The Senate Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science held a hearing on April 23 to consider President Obama’s funding request for Fiscal Year 2010 (FY2010), although the President has yet to release a detailed budget. (See February 26, 2009 Census News Brief for information on the President’s budget outline for FY2010.) Secretary Locke told appropriators that the Administration’s request of $13.8 billion in discretionary funds for the far-flung Commerce Department includes an increase of $4.3 billion over the Fiscal Year 2009 funding level for the 2010 census, for a likely total request of roughly $7 billion. The Census Bureau will have additional funds available from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act; the agency will spend the $1 billion stimulus bill allotment in both 2009 and 2010. Expenditures in 2010 could be in the range of $7.8 billion, including FY2009 allotments carried over to 2010. In his prepared statement, the Secretary assured lawmakers that the Census Bureau would have adequate funds to hire nearly 1.5 million temporary workers to carry out the census. He highlighted the importance of “extensive advertising and partnership activities on hard-to-reach populations, to encourage a high response rate.” Subcommittee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) said she was especially concerned about the FBI’s ability to process fingerprint and background checks for the large temporary workforce in a timely way next year. For the 2010 census, all census workers must clear FBI-administered background checks before they are hired and then fingerprint checks when their post-hiring training begins. In 2000, the FBI ran name-based background checks only on temporary census employees. Sen. Mikulski also cited concerns about management of the census, saying she was interested in learning about reforms to be sure the 2010 census “will not be delayed or compromised.” Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the panel’s ranking member, said he was “concerned with the potential for political mischief in the execution of the 2010 census,” citing previous statements by a presidential spokesman about the White House’s role in overseeing the census. The senator noted that President Obama’s nominee for Census director, Dr. Robert Groves, supported a statistical adjustment of the 1990 census, a sample-based correction of the original census numbers that the senator said would “lazily backfill and inaccurately represent the count of our nation’s residents.” Sen. Shelby expressed concern that a political party could use sampling-based adjustments of the population count to steer more federal program dollars to communities represented by members of its own party. He also suggested that the White House or the Census Bureau could manipulate the census numbers “solely for political gain” by undercounting in some states and overcounting in others. The Census Bureau’s evaluation of accuracy in the 1990 census, when Dr. Groves served as an Associate Director at the agency (a career position), showed that all states were undercounted to some degree. (Alabama’s estimated undercount of about 1.8 percent was slightly higher than the estimated net national undercount of 1.6 percent in 1990.) Then-Census Director Barbara Everitt Bryant, appointed by President George H.W. Bush, recommended use of the accuracy-check survey (called the Post Enumeration Survey, or PES) to correct undercounts and overcounts in the 1990 census. Commerce Secretary Robert Mosbacher rejected the recommendation. Calling the census “the most serious looming issue” facing the new Secretary, Sen. Shelby said the decision to use paper-and-pencil, instead of handheld computers, to collect information from unresponsive households was due to “managerial failures and incompetence” and would increase the total cost of the 2010 census to nearly $15 billion. Secretary Locke testified yesterday before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. In his opening statement, panel Chairman Alan Mollohan (D-WV) said the 2010 census “has been beset by a lack of management and oversight, a lack of acquisitions expertise, and a lack of transparency by an agency whose culture is perceived as so impenetrable as to be self-defeating.” He noted that the revised contract for handheld computers, which limited use of the devices to address canvassing this year, has “renewed some confidence” in the Census Bureau, but that “great risk remains” in the decennial census. Census Bureau outlines plans to spend stimulus funds: The Census Bureau has submitted to Congress its plans for spending an additional $1 billion allocated for the 2010 census in the stimulus package. “The Census Bureau’s proposed investments will improve our ability to conduct an accurate census and will create thousands of good-paying jobs,” Commerce Secretary Locke said in a press statement. The agency will spend $250 million to expand its partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and other hard-to-reach populations, including $120 million to increase partnerships by hiring an additional 2,000 Partnership Specialists in regional offices by July 2009. It is adding $100 million to the broader communications plan, which includes paid advertising and the Census in the Schools program. The bureau will spend $30 million to hire more telephone interviewers working during the census from call centers to follow-up with households whose census questionnaires indicate – through answers to so-called ‘probe questions’ – that someone may have been left off the form or included mistakenly (Coverage Follow-Up operation). The remaining $750 million, the Census Bureau said, will “support early 2010 Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks.” Specific spending plans include enhancements to the following operations: • Group Quarters enumeration (college dorms, prisons, military barracks, etc.) -- $138 million • Update/Leave operation (census workers deliver questionnaires in remote areas and communities with hard-to-pinpoint addresses, and update address lists and maps as they go) -- $116 million • Update/Enumerate operation (similar to Update/Leave, but census workers collect census responses as they visit housing units; used on American Indian reservations, colonias, and resort areas with high seasonal vacancy rates) -- $108 million • Local Census Office (LCO) staffing (LCOs support all major census field operations; roughly 500 LCOs planned for 2010) -- $388 million Hispanic faith group rejects call for census boycott: The National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference (NHCLC) called on Latinos, “regardless of faith or legal status,” to participate in the 2010 census. The self-described “largest Hispanic faith organization” in the U.S. issued a statement last week after the National Coalition of Latino Clergy & Christian Leaders (CONLAMIC) urged undocumented residents to boycott the 2010 census unless Congress enacts “genuine immigration reform.” According to its web site, CONLAMIC works in “support of a comprehensive solution to the immigration crisis and to combat local anti-immigrant crackdowns." Rev. Miguel Rivera, CONLAMIC’s chairman, said in an article on the Coalition’s web site that, “Our church leaders have witnessed misuse of otherwise benign Census population data by state and local public officials in their efforts to pass and enact laws that assist in the perpetration of civil rights violations and abuses against undocumented workers and families.” Rev. Rivera urged the estimated 30 percent of his Coalition’s church members who are undocumented residents not to participate in the census until Congress and the Obama Administration approve comprehensive immigration legislation. CONLAMIC says it represents about 20,000 evangelical churches in 34 states. In an April 21, 2009 Associated Press report, Rev. Rivera also noted, “Even though they [undocumented immigrants] don't vote, they are being used as guinea pigs to get money for cities," an apparent reference to the use of census data to allocate nearly $400 billion annually in federal program funds to states and local governments. Rev. Wilfredo De Jesus, Vice President of Social Justice for the NHCLC, countered COMLAMIC’s suggested benefits of a boycott, saying that fair political representation, allocation of resources, and tracking demographic change in the Latino community depended on an accurate count. “The clear majority of Latino advocacy and faith organizations support the efforts of the U.S. Census Bureau to count each person in America in 2010,” Rev. De Jesus said. Other Latino leaders also expressed disappointment in the boycott movement. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), chairwoman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC), said in a statement, “To not be counted would have political implications and jeopardize vital resources, including federal funding for schools, health care, job training and infrastructure.” Rep. Charles Gonzalez (D-TX), chairman of the CHC’s Civil Rights, Veterans, and Worker Protections Task Force, added, “Boycott groups are uniting and bringing attention to the important issue of immigration reform; though well intentioned, their efforts are failing to take into account the long-term implications of their actions. 2010 census numbers will affect the daily lives of all Hispanics throughout the next ten years; we must not let this important opportunity for representation pass us by.” Arturo Vargas, executive director of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) and a member of the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Advisory Committee, said the strategy “may be well-intended but misguided and ultimately irresponsible.” Advisory panel expresses ‘no confidence’ in communications contractor: A panel of stakeholders advising the Census Bureau on the 2010 census paid advertising campaign issued a vote of “no confidence” in Draftfcb, the prime contractor responsible for the Communications program, which includes advertising and outreach to promote participation in the census. The Joint Advertising Advisory Review Panel (JAARP), comprised of representatives of the Census Bureau’s official advisory committees, met last week to review proposed ads Draftfcb developed for the national census promotion campaign. The Census Bureau’s five Race and Ethnic Advisory Committees (REACs), representing communities of color that are at higher risk of undercounting in the census and other Census Bureau surveys, concurred with JAARP’s ‘no confidence’ statement with respect to Draftfcb’s creative materials for the 2010 census general campaign, at their biannual meetings held later in the week. Former Census director to advise Census Bureau through 2010 count: Former Census director Kenneth Prewitt, who headed the Census Bureau during the 2000 census, will be a part-time consultant to the agency as it moves from final preparations to conduct the decennial count next year. A Commerce Department spokesman confirmed the arrangement to the Washington-based National Journal on Monday, after Republicans in the House of Representatives indicated they were drafting a letter to Secretary Gary Locke, protesting Dr. Prewitt’s “back door entry” to the agency without going through the formal confirmation process. In their letter to the Secretary, Rep. Darryl Issa (R-CA), ranking member of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), senior Republican on the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives, and two other Republican members of the census oversight subcommittee, said that the consulting arrangement could be viewed as “circumvention of congressional oversight” and “a blatant disregard” of the Senate’s confirmation role. The lawmakers requested specific information about the terms of Dr. Prewitt’s consulting agreement, including how much he will be paid, where his office is located, the nature of his work, and the projects on which he will work. The full text of the letter is available at http://republicans.oversight.house.gov/media/4-28-09PrewittCensus.pdf. Dr. Prewitt, now the Vice-President for Global Centers and Carnegie Professor of Public Affairs at Columbia University, was the leading choice for Census director in the new Administration, according to former Commerce Secretary nominee Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), until Dr. Prewitt withdrew his name from consideration. The National Journal article quoted Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), a member of the census oversight subcommittee, as saying, “Considering former Secretary [Carlos] Gutierrez used [Prewitt] as a consultant, too, you have to ask why the Republicans are in such a tizzy,” a reference to Dr. Prewitt’s appointment last year to an expert panel advising the Commerce Secretary on options to modify the 2010 census plan after concerns about the performance of handheld computers came to light. New information on “hard to count” populations by State: The Census Project has posted a new table on its web site (www.thecensusproject.org, Fact Sheets) showing the percent of people in each State living in “hard-to-count” areas, by race and Hispanic origin. The new Fact Sheet explains how the Census Bureau defines hard-to-count areas; the analysis is based on 2000 census data from the Census Bureau’s 2010 Census Planning Database, which the agency is using to target outreach, promotion, and other resources in communities that are at greater risk of an undercount. Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, an independent legislative and policy consultant working with a wide range of census stakeholders to promote an accurate 2010 census. All views expressed in the News Briefs are solely those of the author. Please direct questions about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at TerriAnn2K(a)aol.com. Please feel free to circulate this document to other interested individuals and organizations and to reprint any or all of the information. Previous Census News Briefs are posted on the Census Project web site, at www.thecensusproject.org. -- Ed Christopher 708-283-3534 (V) 708-574-8131 (cell) FHWA RC-TST-PLN 19900 Governors Dr Olympia Fields, IL 60461

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Diana Portillo is out of the office.

by Diana Portillo

I will be out of the office starting 04/24/2009 and will not return until 04/28/2009.

16 years, 3 months

[CTPP] Did you miss the PUMS and IPUMS web-training session held on April 16?

by Elaine.Murakami＠dot.gov

Hi Everyone- We had a really nice training session a little over a week ago to learn about using the University of Minnesota IPUMS. This system provides a user-friendly way for you to run tabulations, regressions using the Public Use Microdata Samples (PUMS) from the decennial Censuses, and the American Community Survey. The training provided an excellent start to filtering (limited the sample based on values of different variable), recoding values, and creating new variables. You can do a lot without having a statistical software package on your own computer. Of course, the PUMS have very limited geography, but the benefit is that you can use many different variables in your table definition. You are not limited to the tables pre-defined by the Census Bureau. I had only a limited number of slots for the April 16 session, but Gary Thomas at TTI recorded the session for us: here is the link. http://fhwa.na3.acrobat.com/p25106595/ Elaine Murakami FHWA Office of Planning 206-220-4460

16 years, 3 months

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