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1 1 (May 07, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdacd0001 and id is 1 raw text is: ,..... ..... s ns r', S May 7, 2020 Overview of FY2021 Appropriations for the Census Bureau This In Focus presents an overview of FY2021 discretionary budget authority for the Census Bureau, including the FY2021 budget request, related congressional actions, and comparisons with FY2020 funding. As a Department of Commerce (DOC) agency, the bureau is funded through the Departments of Commerce and Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) appropriations bills. The Administration's $1,672.0 million FY2021 budget request for the Census Bureau is $5,886.3 million (77.9%) below the $7,558.3 million appropriated for FY2020. The FY2021 request is divided between the bureau's two major accounts, Current Surveys and Programs, and Periodic Censuses and Programs. kArrent $tkrvcz.ys an~dPrga s The FY2021 request for Current Surveys and Programs is $279.3 million, $5.3 million (1.9%) above the $274.0 million enacted for FY2020. Under this account are Current Economic Statistics and Current Demographic Statistics. Current Economic Statistics include business, construction, manufacturing, general economic, foreign trade, and government statistics that, as the FY2021 budget justification for the Census Bureau states, provide critical infornation about the U.S. economy and underlie key economic indicators like the gross domestic product (GDP). The request for Current Economic Statistics in FY2021 is $196.0 million, $11.3 million (6.1%) above the $184.7 million enacted for FY2020. ,',rrent D)e ,grphk: ,.t \ s Current Demographic Statistics include those from household surveys like the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and the Current Population Survey (CPS), which is undertaken jointly by the Census Bureau and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), is two-thirds funded by BLS, and provides monthly unemployment rates. Other Current Demographic Statistics are analyses of population and housing characteristics, as in the Current Population Reports, which are based on CPS and other data and are the official source of U.S. income and poverty statistics; the Housing Vacancy Survey; intercensal demographic and housing unit estimates for the total United States and subnational geographic levels; and population projections into the future. The $83.3 million FY2021 request for Current Demographic Statistics is $6.0 million (6.8%) less than the $89.3 million FY2020-enacted amount. In the FY2021 request, Periodic Censuses and Programs (PCP) would receive $1,392.7 million, $5,891.6 million (80.9%) below the FY2020-enacted $7,284.3 million, and 83.3% of the Census Bureau's total FY2021 request. (In contrast, the FY2020 request of $5,885.4 million for PCP was 95.7% of the bureau's $6,149.4 million total, mainly to fund the 2020 decennial census in its peak year of operations and expenses. The request for the census typically declines steeply after the census year.) About $3.6 million of the FY2021 amount for PCP is to be transferred to the DOC Office of Inspector General (OIG) for continuing bureau oversight. Four major programs under PCP are discussed below. :202() EecennnaCss s The decennial census is the bureau's largest, most costly undertaking. Article I, Section 2, clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution, as amended by Section 2 of the Fourteenth Amendment, requires a population count every 10 years, to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. The data also are used to redraw state congressional and legislative districts and, with census-related American Community Survey (ACS) data and intercensal estimates, in formulas to determine states' and localities' annual shares of federal funds, estimated by the Census Bureau as of FY2015 at $689.3 billion and by an academic researcher as of FY2017 at $1.5 trillion. The FY2021 request for the 2020 census is $812.4 million, $5,883.6 million (87.9%) less than the $6,696.0 million enacted for FY2020. The budget justification states that the FY2020-enacted amount includes $669 million for contingency needs that may arise during the census, such as major disasters or other unforeseen risks realized, and $263 million in additional sensitivity risks if initial response rates are lower than projected. Combined with funding provided in prior year appropriations, the justification continues, the bureau has $7.9 billion available to support the 2020 decennial operation. An April 27, 2020, House Oversight and Reform Committee press release noted an April 24 committee briefing by senior bureau officials, including the bureau's chief financial officer. He reported the amount of contingency funding as $2 billion and said, according to the release, that the bureau currently anticipates using only $1.5 billion of the $2 billion in connection with the delay in operations and response to the coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19; see CRS In Focus IF1 1486, 2020 Census Fieldwork Delayed by COVID-19, by Jennifer D. Williams). N 1 10 LI

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