Census First, Then Agency Review, Urges IA

US professional body The Insights Association has urged the Trump administration and Congress to delay plans to consolidate three federal statistical agencies until after the 2020 Census.

The US has thirteen principal statistical agencies across the federal government. Three of these agencies - the US Census Bureau (Census), the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) - account for 53% of the System's annual budget of $2.26 bn, and the administration says they share 'unique synergies' in their collection of economic and demographic data and analysis of key national indicators. According to the plan, reorganizing these agencies under the Department of Commerce (DOC) would increase cost-effectiveness and improve data quality, while simultaneously reducing respondent burden on businesses and the public.

At a hearing about the plan with the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Howard Fienberg, VP of Advocacy for the Insights Association, explained that since the US is in year eight of the decennial Census cycle, any reorganization could disrupt ongoing statistical programs and the impact on the 2020 Census would be the most severe. 'It is the largest peacetime mobilization in the US and takes a massive and coordinated effort to complete accurately and effectively', Fienberg stated. 'Insufficient funding for much of this decade, which led to the elimination of essential field testing (among other impacts), has endangered the accuracy and efficiency of the 2020 Census, and we cannot afford to distract the Census Bureau from this core constitutional mission'.

Web site: www.insightsassociation.org .