'Minibus' Drops Rule Restricting Census Follow-Ups

Congressional committees this week agreed a 'minibus' package combining three appropriations bills, one of which funds the U.S. Census Bureau. The $1.5bn allotted is an increase on last year, and the legislation excludes a proposal condemned by researchers, which would have limited them to two survey follow-ups.

The funding package is part of the Commerce-Justice-Science (CJS) Appropriations bill, and has yet to pass the U.S. House of Representatives, the Senate, and Presidential approval. If it does so, it will represent an 8.5% increase over the FY 2024 and FY 2025 levels, although lower than the $1.6765 billion recommended by the House Appropriations Committee and supported by stakeholders.

Section 605 of the original proposal by the House Appropriations Committee would have limited the Census Bureau to no more than two follow-up inquiries across all of its surveys, which it said if enacted 'would have decimated response rates for all its surveys', with particularly harsh consequences for the American Community Survey and decennial census. Other provisions including section 556, which would have excluded persons unlawfully in the United States from the apportionment base, were also left out.

Web site: www.census.gov .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.