Appropriations Update
There was no overt movement on Fiscal Year 2024 (FY 2024) funding during the traditional congressional recess in August. In July, the House Commerce Justice Science (CJS) Appropriations Subcommittee and the full Senate Appropriations Committee approved their respective versions of the FY 2024 CJS appropriations legislation, which would fund the Census Bureau, at differing levels (the Senate providing $147 million more than the House).
The full House Appropriations Committee is still supposed to mark up its version of the CJS bill in September. However, while House leadership aims to bring a couple of appropriations bills to the floor for votes, the CJS bill will not likely make it to the floor anytime soon; the full Senate is likely to start consideration of appropriations bills on the floor of the Senate in a couple of weeks, but the CJS bill is also not expected to be on the list.
Therefore, the Census Bureau will need Congress to pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government before funding expires on September 30.
Unfortunately, the Administration�s request for funding anomalies (agencies/programs to receive more funding than the FY23 levels during the duration of a CR) does not include the Bureau.
Further complicating matters for passage of a necessary CR are the Biden Administration�s request for a large emergency spending package and the House Freedom caucus� stated opposition to passing a �clean� CR (without policy riders).
Census stakeholders will be communicating to congressional leaders in the coming weeks the consequences of flat or decreased funding for the Census Bureau in FY 2024 and the importance of ensuring that the Bureau receives the highest possible level of funding in the final CJS appropriations measure.
Policy Update
New Advisory Committee on the 2030 Census
The Census Bureau announced the launching of a new 2030 Census Advisory Committee, which Director Santos said �will be distinct from our other committees, which provide feedback on the many programs and initiatives across our agency, not just the decennial census. It will focus exclusively on the operational, technical and communications aspects of the next once-a-decade count. About 30 members representing stakeholder organizations, groups, interest, and viewpoints will serve on this committee.�
See the August 25th Federal Register notice for details and how to nominate panel members. The deadline for nomination is September 30.
Bipartisan call for change in where to count prisoners
A pair of Montana state senators, one Democrat and one Republican, joined forces with an op-ed opposing �prison gerrymandering.� They declared that, �the Census Bureau gets it wrong when it counts incarcerated people in prison cells rather than their home communities. When states use this flawed data to draw new legislative districts during redistricting, it paints a distorted picture of the state, with communities that contain prisons boasting artificially inflated populations and getting more political clout as a result.� The op-ed highlighted the impact of the policy on the count for Native Americans and the economically disadvantaged.
ACS webinar kicks off �August is ACS Month�
On August 1, the Census Project participated in a webinar regarding the American Community Survey (ACS) that was sponsored by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights (LCCHR). The webinar featured presentations by experts regarding the history of the ACS, its uses, and challenges facing the survey. Links to ACS resources shared in conjunction with the webinar are available.
Census Bureau News
The Bureau is hosting a webinar on the ACS 1-year estimates pre-release on September 7 and a webinar to discuss the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A) on September 13.
The Bureau announced it will release the National 2022 Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage Statistics on September 12.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced the beginning of data collection for phase 3.10 of the experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS) on August 23.
The U.S. Census Bureau announced that it plans to release the 2020 Census Detailed Demographic and Housing Characteristics File A (Detailed DHC-A) on Sept. 21.
Deputy Director Ron Jarmin blogged about the benefits of international collaboration between government statistical agencies.
The Bureau launched Phase 2 of the StatVentures Supply Chain Challenge. This challenge seeks innovative ideas to improve the way we provide supply chain data in support of the nation�s needs for critical goods and services. More specifically, the Census Bureau is seeking new and improved ways to capture more timely, granular and robust supply chain data, including information on manufacturing, imports and exports, transportation and delivery of goods, and other key components of global supply chains.
The U.S. Census Bureau is scheduled to hold an online news conference on September 12 to announce the findings of three reports estimating income, poverty and health insurance coverage in the United States: Income in the United States: 2022, Poverty in the United States: 2022, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2022.
Census Bureau Data Releases
The U.S. Census Bureau released new tables from the 2022 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
The Census Bureau released new population estimates and projections and other demographic data up to the year 2100 for 40 countries and areas in the International Database (IDB).
The Bureau released new Business Formation Statistics (BFS) for July 2023.
The U.S. Census Bureau released the 2020 Census 118th Congressional District Summary File.
The U.S. Census Bureau released the 2020 Nonemployer Statistics (NES). This annual series provides subnational economic data for businesses that have no paid employees or payroll, are subject to federal income tax and have receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or HFmore for the Construction sector).
The U.S. Census Bureau today released the official count of state and local governments from the 2022 Census of Governments Organization component and a Public Use File.
The Bureau released new geographic mobility and migration estimates for the nation and regions in 2022, from the 2022 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC).
The Bureau released new data from phase 3.9 of the experimental Household Pulse Survey (HPS) on August 16.
The U.S. Census Bureau released data from the Business Trends and Outlook Survey (BTOS), a survey that measures business conditions on an ongoing basis on August 3 and August 17. The BTOS is the successor to the Small Business Pulse Survey.
The rate of Americans under age 65 without health insurance decreased in 280 counties and increased in 80 counties between 2020 and 2021, according to new data released by the U.S. Census Bureau from the Small Area Health Insurance Estimates (SAHIE) program.
News You Can Use
Below are several articles posted on The Census Project home page in August 2023. For a complete listing, go to: https://thecensusproject.org/recent-media/.
The fight to recognize the MENA identity
City & State New York
August 28, 2023
Census Bureau�s �My Tribal Area� tool is helpful to some, incomplete to others
Nevada Public Radio
August 27, 2023
U.S. census and other surveys likely undercount the number of LGBTQ+ people living in Texas
Texas Community Health News
August 23, 2023
Millennials May Have Finally Started Job-Hopping
Bloomberg
August 22, 2023
Impacts of census differential privacy for small-area disease mapping to monitor health inequities
Science
August 18, 2023
How Majority-Minority Districts Fueled Diversity In Congress
FiveThirtyEight
August 14, 2023
In federal trial, Galveston County challenged on efforts to undo Black and Latino voting power
The Texas Tribune
August 10, 2023
New 2020 Census Rules Make It Harder to Navigate Native American Data
Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis
August 9, 2023
One in Eight US Adults Say They Have a Disability in Census Poll
Bloomberg
August 4, 2023
Redistricting battles could determine control of US House in 2024
Reuters
August 3, 2023