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1 1 (November 24, 2020)

handle is hein.crs/govdcse0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Updated November 24,2020 Overview of FY2021 Appropriations for the Census Bureau mntrcoductK) f This In Focus presents an overview ofFY2021 discretionary budget authority for the Census Bureau, including the FY2021 budget request, related congressional actions, and comparisons with FY2020 funding. As a Department ofCommerce (DOC) agency, the bureau is funded through theDepartments 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 dividedbetween the bureau's two major accounts, Current Surveys and Programs, and the much larger Periodic Censuses and Programs account. Current Surveyss an P rogramfS 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 andCurrent Demographic Statistics. Current Economic Statistics includebusiness, construction, manufacturing, general economic, foreign trade, and government statistics that, as the FY2021 budget justification for the Census Bureau states, provide critical information about the U.S. economy andunderlie 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. Current Lkmagaphitatss 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 ofLaborStatistics (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 onCPS 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 requestfor Current Demographic Statistics is $6.0 million (6.8%) less than the $89.3 million FY2020-enacted amount. Peioi Cenus and rograms' 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 totalFY2021 request. (In contrast, theFY2020 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. 2020 Dcna Census 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 Section2 of the Fourteenth Amendment,requires apopulation count every 10 years, to apportion seats in the House of Representatives. 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 forFY2020. The decrease reflects the completion of most 2020 census activities in FY2020, when census expenses were greatest. Thebudgetjustification states that the FY2020-enacted amount includes $669 million for contingency needs that may arise during the census, such as major dis asters or other unforeseen risks realized, and $263 million in additional sensitivityrisksifinitial response rates are lower than projected. Combined with funding provided in prioryear appropriations, the justification continues, the bureau has $7.9 billion available to support the 2020 decennial operation. An April 27, 2020, House Oversight and ReformCommittee press release noted an April24 committee briefing by seniorbureau officials, includingthe bureau's chief financial officer. He reported the amount of contingency funding as $2 billion and s aid, 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 IF11486, 2020 Census FieldworkDelayed by COVID-19, by Jennifer D. Williams). Amrr'cmr' C mmainty \urey The ACS, which the bureau implemented nationwide in 2005 and 2006, is the replacement for the decennial census long form that, from 1940 to 2000, collected detailed \ Q yg

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