[CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF

Wed Feb 4 10:51:35 CST 2009

All good ideas but keep in mind but one place to keep our eyes on is who 
will become the Census Bureau director.  Generally, it is a good idea 
that the top leadership understand the utility of their data programs 
and efforts.  But for me what is frustrating is the general affect the 
disclosure rules are having on restricting and even rendering much of 
the data collected useless.  It seems like every time we turn around we 
are loosing something else to disclosure rules that are not really 
proven to be protecting anything, but that is another issue.

Knowing that we have to live with these rules the AASHTO CTPP Oversight 
Board and others have a research project in the NCHRP (National 
Cooperative Highway Research Program) hopper to 1st, answer the question 
if we can use synthetic data and 2nd, to develop an appropriate 
methodology for developing a data set to satisfy the transportation 
planning needs of the states and MPOs while meeting the Census Bureau’s 
confidentiality concerns.  The work is vital to being able to get small 
area data for the CTPP 5-year ACS tabulations.  The problem statement is 
at       http://trbcensus.com/notes/NCHRP_CTPP_Data_Proposal_Oct2008.pdf

While the problem statement has gotten good support and backing it still 
needs to be voted on by all the states.  The selection process and 
balloting is going on right now.  There are about 130 projects in the 
hopper and maybe 10 or 20 new ones get selected each year.  Attached is 
the problem statement along with a longer explanation of the balloting 
process and how we can get involved.

Angie Byrne wrote:
> One idea might be to let your state FHWA coordinators or someone who can ask Senator Gregg if he is interested in being part of this listserve.  If so, we could precede to inform from that direction.  
> 
> Angie Byrne
> Transportation Planner
> Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Organization
> Western Arkansas Planning and Development District
> 1109 S. 16th St., P.O. Box 2067
> Fort Smith, Arkansas 72902
> (479) 785-2651
> abyrne at wapdd.org <mailto:abyrne at wapdd.org> 
> www.bistatempo.org <http://www.bistatempo.org> 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ctpp-news-bounces at chrispy.net
> [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces at chrispy.net]On Behalf Of Nancy Reger
> Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 5:28 PM
> To: ctpp-news at chrispy.net
> Subject: RE: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
> 
> 
> Should we do anything--- ie say, welcome to Director Gregg and tell him how we use this data in the econ devt and transportation world as a community or just go solo?
> 
> 
> Nancy Reger, AICP
> Assistant Director, Transportation
> Mid Ohio Regional Planning Commission
> 111 Liberty St; Ste 100 / Cols OH 43215
> (p) 614-233-4154 / (e) nreger at morpc.org
> 
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: ctpp-news-bounces at chrispy.net [mailto:ctpp-news-bounces at chrispy.net] On Behalf Of Ed Christopher
> Sent: Tuesday, February 03, 2009 10:16 AM
> To: ctpp-news maillist
> Subject: [CTPP] CENSUS NEWS BRIEF
> 
> PRESIDENT SELECTS SEN. GREGG FOR COMMERCE SECRETARY;
> SENATE CONSIDERS $1B FOR CENSUS IN STIMULUS BILL
> Plus:  House Passes Stimulus Funds for Census
> 
> 
> President Obama has selected Senator Judd Gregg, Republican of New
> Hampshire, to be his Commerce Secretary.  The post would give Sen. Gregg
> authority over the Census Bureau and upcoming decennial census.  The
> Census Bureau is part of the Commerce Department's Economics and
> Statistics Administration (ESA), which also houses the Bureau of
> Economic Analysis (BEA).
> 
> Sen. Gregg, a three-term senator, former representative, and former New
> Hampshire governor, is the ranking Republican on the Senate Budget
> Committee and a member of the Appropriations Committee.  He is a member
> and former chairman of the Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and
> Science (formerly Commerce, Justice, and State), which funds the Census
> Bureau.  The biography posted on his official web site highlights his
> interest in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
> another large Commerce Department agency.
> 
> Sen. Gregg chaired the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce,
> Justice, and State during the 2000 census.  In 1999, he questioned the
> Administration's request for additional census funding for fiscal year
> 2000; the Census Bureau had asked for an extra $1.7 billion after a
> Supreme Court decision forced it to redesign non-response follow-up
> operations.  The House of Representatives had approved the full $4.5
> billion for the census year, while the Senate allocated the $2.8 billion
> the Administration had sought before the Court ruling in a case
> challenging the use of sampling to compile census population counts used
> for congressional apportionment.  Sen. Gregg especially questioned the
> House's proposal to designate all census funding for 2000 as "emergency"
> spending, which would remove the allocation from under tight budget
> caps.  The impasse over census funding helped delay passage of final
> spending bills for 2000; Congress eventually approved the full funding
> request, designating the entire amount as an "emergency."
> 
> The Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation will hold
> confirmation hearings for Sen. Gregg, while the Homeland Security and
> Governmental Affairs Committee will be responsible for confirming a
> Census director.  President Obama has not yet nominated an Under
> Secretary for Economic Affairs, who oversees the ESA, or Census Bureau
> director; both positions require Senate confirmation.
> 
> Economic stimulus bill includes extra funds for 2010 census: On January
> 28, by a vote of 244 - 188, the U.S. House of Representatives approved
> an $819 economic stimulus bill (H.R. 1) that includes $1 billion in
> additional funds for the 2010 census.  No Republican lawmakers supported
> the bill.
> 
> The stimulus package requested by President Obama is also working its
> way through the U.S. Senate.  Last week, the Committee on Appropriations
> approved its own version of the economic recovery package (S. 336),
> which includes $1 billion for the 2010 census.  The funds would be
> available until September 30, 2010.  The Census Bureau is required by
> law to report state population totals to the President by December 31,
> 2010, and detailed populations counts to the states for redistricting
> purposes by April 1, 2011.
> 
> Committee report language (S. Rept. 111-3) directs the Census Bureau to
> use $780 million to hire more census takers "to count underserved
> communities"; $120 million to expand the Partnership Program, "with
> specific focus being placed on hard to reach populations"; and $100
> million to increase outreach and promotion "to minority communities."
> Appropriators suggested that the Census Bureau hire additional staff who
> are experienced with partnership programs and are trusted community
> leaders who can convey the importance of participating in the census to
> "hard to reach" populations.
> 
> The full Senate is considering the package this week.  Amendments to
> strip or reduce some of the funding from the bill, including the
> proposed $1 billion for the 2010 census, are possible.
> 
> The House version of the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
> 2009" does not lay out as many specific dollar amounts for spending the
> additional money, instead saying more broadly that the Census Bureau
> should "hire additional personnel, provide required training, increase
> targeted media purchases, and improve management of other operational
> and programmatic risks to ensure a successful decennial."  The Census
> Bureau should use $150 million for "expanded communications and outreach
> programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups," according to the
> House Appropriations committee.
> 
> An analysis of the economic stimulus package by Robert Santos of the
> Urban Institute, a Washington, DC think-tank, concludes that the
> proposed spending for the 2010 census "would provide an infusion of new
> jobs, better community participation and a more accurate census."  Dr.
> Santos calls the census "a shovel-ready infrastructure project," a
> reference to one of President Obama's criteria for including projects in
> a stimulus package.  The analysis is available on-line at
> http://www.urban.org/issues/recovery.cfm#santos.
> 
> Senator urges quick appointment of Census Director: Senator Thomas
> Carper (D-DE), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial
> Management, Government Information, Federal Services, and International
> Security (Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs), sent
> a letter to President Obama on January 28, urging him to "move quickly
> to fill the top leadership at the Commerce Department and the Census
> Bureau with individuals with the knowledge and the management skills
> necessary to get the ongoing preparations for the 2010 Census back on
> track for good."  The chairman said that "serious challenges in managing
> key information technology activities" and reduced spending on
> advertising and outreach have led the Government Accountability Office
> (GAO) to designate the 2010 census as a "high risk" federal program.
> Sen. Carper called on the President to make the "overall success [of the
> census] a top priority of your Administration."
> 
> The Federal Financial Management panel has tentatively scheduled an
> oversight hearing for February 25 to review the status of planning for
> the 2010 census.
> 
> Census News Briefs are prepared by Terri Ann Lowenthal, a consultant to
> the nonpartisan Census Project, organized by the Communications
> Consortium Media Center in Washington, DC.  Please direct questions
> about the information in this News Brief to Ms. Lowenthal at
> TerriAnn2K at aol.com.  Please feel free to circulate this document to
> other interested individuals and organizations.  Previous Census News
> Briefs are posted at www.thecensusproject.org
> 
> --
> Ed Christopher
> Resource Center Planning Team
> Federal Highway Administration
> 19900 Governors Drive
> Olympia Fields, Illinois  60461
> 708-283-3534 (V)  708-574-8131 (cell)
> 708-283-3501 (F)
> 
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> 
> 

-- 
Ed Christopher
Resource Center Planning Team
Federal Highway Administration
19900 Governors Drive
Olympia Fields, Illinois  60461
708-283-3534 (V)  708-574-8131 (cell)
708-283-3501 (F)
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