The appropriators granted large increases for anti-terrorism programs and froze funding for most other activities. The subcommittee, chaired by Sen. Ernest F. Hollings (D-SC), and the panel's ranking member, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH), used the fiscal 2002 spending bill as a model. Spending was increased for programs and agencies that play a role in homeland security.

For example, the subcommittee agreed to an 18 percent increase in appropriations over President Bush's request for the Department of Justice. To make room for this and other anti-terrorism spending at Justice and other agencies, the subcommittee cut the Census Bureau's budget request by 30 percent, essentially freezing spending on agencies and programs that do not combat terrorism.

During deliberations by the full committee, the Senate Budget Committee's ranking member, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM), spoke out against the Census Bureau cuts and mentioned that the President's request contained a number of initiatives that would save money over the next 10 years and result in a more efficient and accurate census count.

The full Senate has yet to act on this appropriations bill. The Senate floor vote is likely to occur in September. The House of Representatives' appropriators likely will not act until September or even as late as December. Congress will recess for October and November to campaign. The Administration, the Department of Commerce, and the Census Bureau maintain their commitment to seek full funding for the American Community Survey.

Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans testified in a hearing before the Joint Economic Committee on Wednesday, July 24. In response to questions, he stated that he would "fight for full American Community Survey funding as part of our long-term plan to make 2010 the most accurate decennial yet."

_______________________________________
NEW ENDORSEMENTS
The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted a resolution endorsing the American Community Survey at its conference in Madison, Wisconsin in June. To read the resolution visit the U.S. Conference of Mayors Web site at and go to page 94 of the http://www.usmayors.org/70thAnnualMeeting/2002resolutions.pdf">.pdf document under the heading Urban and Economic Policy, Supporting the American Community Survey. The National Congress of American Indians also endorsed the American Community Survey during its 2002 mid-year conference. To read the resolution, visit its Web site or click HERE.

The National Association of Black County Officials passed a July 14, 2002, verbal resolution in support of the American Community Survey during the National Association of Counties' annual conference in New Orleans, La. A written resolution from the group is forthcoming.

___________________________________________
2001 SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEY DATA RELEASE POSTPONED
The release of data from the 2001 Supplementary Survey (SS01) has been postponed until later this year, after all the Census 2000 Summary File 3 data have been released. The SS01 data will include 2000 to 2001 percent change profiles for 50 states, the District of Columbia, the nation, and all geographic areas with a population of one million or more. Single year profiles and over 700 detailed tables will also be released for 50 states, the District of Columbia, the nation, and geographic areas of 250,000 or more population.

___________________________________________
2002 SUPPLEMENTARY SURVEY DATA COLLECTION
Field costs for the 2002 Supplementary Survey (SS02), as well as other Census Bureau surveys, recently have been higher than expected. To meet this budget shortfall, the Census Bureau has decided to cut back on some data collection for SS02. Specifically, we have eliminated the July mailout, the July and August telephone follow-up, and the August and September personal visit follow-up. In addition, we are testing new instructions to our field representatives in the hope of reducing costs for the balance of 2002 and beyond. We are determined to streamline operational costs and complete the program on schedule and will monitor closely field costs for the remainder of the year.

________________________________________
2003 ACS QUESTIONNAIRE OFFICIALLY CLEARED
Since July 2000, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has led an Interagency Committee for the ACS composed of representatives of more than 25 federal departments and agencies that use data derived from the census long form to determine their data needs for the ACS. These data needs formed the basis of the 2003 ACS questionnaire, which was approved by OMB on July 2, 2002. Most subjects appear because of a statutory or judicial requirement identified by one or more federal agencies. Although the content is similar to the current ACS form, some changes were made to a few questions on the 2003 form.

After consultation with the Department of Veterans Affairs, the response categories in the veteran status question were revised to better define the active-duty status of veterans, and several dates defining the period of service were changed.

To help improve reporting accuracy for the question on Residence One Year Ago (Migration), the migration question was moved to appear after the question on Language Spoken at Home. As a result, the migration question is no longer divided between two columns on a questionnaire page.

The four-part disability question was split into two separate two-part questions.

The questions on Children Born in the Past 12 Months and Seasonal Residence are needed for operational purposes. Other questions, where neither a legislative nor an operational need could be identified were dropped, such as the questions about federal programs involving school breakfast/lunch, heating/cooling assistance, housing subsidy, and public housing.