Budget Cuts Imperil 2010 Census

"For the second year in a row, the Senate approved an appropriation that Census Bureau officials say is so low they would have to pull the plug on their game plan for the 2010 head count. The replacement, they say, would provide less information and end up costing more in later years."

The Census Bureau has been preparing to replace the once-a-decade sample data, known as long form data, with an ongoing survey that would give people more timely information about their communities.

Now, however "Census Bureau Director C. Louis Kincannon said in an interview this week that he will have to kill a monthly household survey that is supposed to replace the long form, abandon plans to automate data collection for the 2010 count, scrap a test census in two counties next year, and lay off thousands of employees unless Congress approves the House budget figure."

As the Senate and House of Representatives work to reconcile their different budgets, organizations of all kinds, from civil rights groups and charities, to chambers of commerce, industry trade organizations, and think tanks support the Census Bureau's modernization efforts.

Thanks to Joseph Powers