[CTPP] Census News Brief--January 15th

[Ed Christopher]

CONGRESS CONSIDERS $1 BILLION IN STIMULUS FUNDS FOR CENSUS
Plus: Mesenbourg Becomes Acting Census Director

The U.S. House of Representatives is considering $1 billion in 
additional funds for the 2010 census as part of the $750 billion 
economic stimulus package requested by President-elect Barack Obama.

The House Committee on Appropriations is circulating a draft of the 
“American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009,” to promote “job 
preservation and creation, infrastructure investment, energy efficiency 
and science, assistance to the unemployed, and State and local fiscal 
stabilization.” Title III of the draft bill allocates $1 billion for the 
Census Bureau’s Periodic Censuses and Programs account, which covers 
decennial census activities.

Draft report language accompanying the bill points to the increased 
lifecycle cost and “significant risk” associated with the revised Field 
Data Collection Automation (FDCA) contract, which has led to greater 
“workforce, advertising, and operational needs.” While the bill does not 
specify how the funds would be spent, the report suggests that the 
funding should be used “to hire additional personnel, provide required 
training, increase targeted media purchases, and improve management of 
other operational and programmatic risks to ensure a successful 
decennial.” $150 million would be used for “expanded communications and 
outreach programs to minimize undercounting of minority groups,” 
according to the committee.

Democratic appropriators said the proposed stimulus package includes “a 
historic level of transparency, oversight, and accountability,” noting 
that the President must create a special website to post expenditures, 
announcements of contract and grant competitions and awards, and formula 
grant allocations related to stimulus spending.

Republican legislators have raised concerns about the massive spending 
bill. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the senior Republican on the 
appropriations panel, said in a press release that Republicans “have 
serious concerns about its size, scope, and astronomical cost. This 
legislation appears to blanket government programs in spending with 
little thought toward real economic results, job creation, or respect 
for the taxpayer.” House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) called 
the Democrats’ proposed stimulus bill “disappointing.” The proposal, he 
said in a written statement, “was developed with no Republican input and 
appears to be grounded in the flawed notion that we can simply borrow 
and spend our way back to prosperity. It calls for more than half a 
trillion dollars in questionable new government spending on programs and 
projects, while providing less tax relief for middle-class families and 
small businesses than President-elect Obama has proposed.” Rep. Boehner 
singled out several proposals in the Democratic bill, including $1 
billion for the 2010 census, as having questionable “stimulus” effects.

The House Appropriations Committee might consider the stimulus bill as 
early as next week. Congressional leaders have said they hope to 
complete work on the package before the Presidents’ Day recess. Congress 
must also complete work on most regular appropriations bills for Fiscal 
Year 2009, which started October 1, 2008. Before adjourning for the 
election last Fall, legislators passed a Continuing Resolution that 
funds most government agencies, including the Census Bureau, through 
March 6.

111th Congress committees take shape: Congressional committees have 
begun organizing for the 111th Congress. In the House, the 
Appropriations Committee has completed its subcommittee assignments. 
Full Committee Chairman Dave Obey (D-WI) and Ranking Member Jerry Lewis 
serve as ex-officio members on all subcommittees. The Senate 
Appropriations Committee has not announced new subcommittee line-ups yet.

House Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies
(Democratic members)
Chair: Alan B. Mollohan, West Virginia
Patrick J. Kennedy, Rhode Island
Chaka Fattah, Pennsylvania
Adam Schiff, California
Michael Honda, California
C.A "Dutch" Ruppersberger, Maryland
Peter J. Visclosky, Indiana
José E. Serrano, New York

(Republican members)
Ranking Member: Frank Wolf, Virginia
John Culberson, Texas
Robert Aderholt, Alabama
Jo Bonner, Alabama

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, the Census Bureau’s 
authorizing committee, has a new chairman, Rep. Edolphus (“Ed”) Towns 
(D-NY), and new Ranking Member, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA). Chairman 
Towns, who has served on the committee (and its predecessors) for 26 
years, held a press conference this week to outline his priorities for 
the 111th Congress. Referring to the 2010 census, the congressman said 
(according to the written statement he released), “[M]inorities and 
urban dwellers have traditionally been under-reported in census counts. 
This time it will be one of my goals to ensure that all Americans are 
counted!” The committee has not yet made subcommittee assignments.

The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which 
has jurisdiction over the Census Bureau, will continue to be led by 
Chairman Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). While 
the committee has not yet organized its subcommittees for the 111th 
Congress, it appears that Sen. Thomas Carper (D-DE) will retain his 
chairmanship of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, 
Government Information, Federal Services, and International Security, 
which oversees the Census Bureau. The Homeland Security committee will 
be responsible for confirmation hearings for the Census Bureau director. 
The President-elect has not announced a nominee for that position.

Acting Census Director named: Thomas Mesenbourg has been named Acting 
Director of the U.S. Census Bureau following the resignation of Dr. 
Steven Murdock on January 9. Mr. Mesenbourg was named the bureau’s 
Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer (both career positions) in 
May 2008, after serving as Associate Director for Economic Programs 
since 2005, with responsibility for the Economic Census and the Census 
of Governments and over 100 monthly, quarterly, and annual surveys. His 
full career at the Census Bureau spans 36 years.

Dr. Murdock became Census Bureau director in December 2007, succeeding 
President Bush’s first Census director, C. Louis Kincannon. It is 
traditional for political appointees to submit their resignations at the 
end of a President’s term of office.

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 <mailto: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 <http://www.thecensusproject.org>