Current:Home > Stocks‘This is break glass in case of emergency stuff': Analysts alarmed by threats to US data gathering -Quantum Growth Learning
‘This is break glass in case of emergency stuff': Analysts alarmed by threats to US data gathering
View
Date:2025-04-17 03:07:25
Inadequate funding and controversial measures in a budget bill could threaten what Americans know about themselves through federal data gathering, statisticians and demographers warn in a new report and a letter to U.S. congressional leaders.
“Our bottom-line assessment is that federal statistics are at risk,” says the report released Tuesday by the American Statistical Association in partnership with George Mason University.
The report says most of the 13 principal U.S. statistical agencies have lost more than 14% of their purchasing power in the last 15 years, limiting their ability to innovate.
Better protections against political meddling also are needed for the agencies which calculate everything from the monthly unemployment rate to the once-a-decade head count that determines the distribution of political power and $2.8 trillion in government funding, according to the report.
Ahead of the 2020 census, for instance, the Trump administration tried to add a citizenship question to the census questionnaire. Even though it was stopped by the U.S. Supreme Court, some experts believe the controversy contributed to an almost 5% undercount of the Hispanic population during the nation’s head count.
Meanwhile, other advocates and users of federal data are worried about an appropriations bill being considered by the GOP-controlled House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday. The bill would omit people in the country illegally from the count used to redraw political districts — even though the 14th Amendment requires “counting the whole number of persons” in each place. And it would limit how many times a respondent can be contacted by agencies seeking their participation in surveys and the census.
“This is ‘break glass in case of emergency’ level stuff,” said Allison Plyer, chief demographer at The Data Center, a research nonprofit based in New Orleans.
The measure omitting people in the country illegally is unconstitutional, and placing limits on how many times respondents can be contacted would have a “devastating” impact on data quality by missing many more people, the leaders of the Census Project, a coalition of business, civil rights and local government groups said in a letter last week to leaders of the House Committee on Appropriations.
The language in the appropriations bill would restrict contact by agencies to no more than two times for the census and surveys including the American Community Survey and the Current Population Survey, which helps determine the monthly unemployment rate.
The American Community Survey is the most comprehensive survey of American life, providing the basis for countless economic decisions by gathering information on such things as commuting times, internet access, family life, income and education levels. It typically requires more than three follow-up contacts to get a response. The Current Population Survey takes about 2.5 follow-up contacts. If the 2020 census had been limited to only two invitations to respondents to participate, the nation’s head count would have missed 17 million households, the Census Project said in its letter.
“If the Census Bureau is constrained in the number of contacts it can make, the data will become completely unreliable,” Plyer said. “Data doesn’t grow on trees. It doesn’t magically come to us. This bedrock information cannot be replicated.”
In May, the Republican-led House passed a separate bill that would eliminate noncitizens from the census tally used to decide how many House seats and Electoral College votes each state gets. The bill is unlikely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate, the White House opposes it and it would likely be challenged in court because the Constitution says all people should be counted during the apportionment process.
The current appropriations bill proposes $1.3 billion for the U.S. Census Bureau, which is below the Biden administration’s request of $1.6 billion for fiscal year 2025, a shortfall which could make preparations for the 2030 census more difficult, the Census Project leaders said in their letter.
But Rep. Harold Rogers, R-Ky., said Tuesday during the House committee hearing that the budget bill funds agencies appropriately while restraining “government overreach by Washington bureaucrats.”
Ahead of the 2020 census, budget cuts in the mid-2010s forced the Census Bureau to cut dress rehearsals for the count and scrap testing of new methods for counting people in group quarters like dorms, prisons and nursing homes. Advocates worry the same thing could happen to 2026 test runs planned for the 2030 census, and result in undercounts of minority groups, without adequate funding.
“If it doesn’t get the funding next year for comprehensive testing in 2026, it won’t be able to make up for the lost research and testing down the road,” said Terri Ann Lowenthal, a former congressional staffer who consults on census issues. “If that happens, it will be deja vu all over again.”
___
Follow Mike Schneider on the social platform X: @MikeSchneiderAP.
veryGood! (44866)
Related
- Moving abroad can be expensive: These 5 countries will 'pay' you to move there
- Pentagon to tighten oversight of handling classified information in wake of leaks
- No New Natural Gas: Michigan Utility Charts a Course Free of Fossil Fuels
- Connecticut state Rep. Maryam Khan details violent attack: I thought I was going to die
- 'Kraven the Hunter' spoilers! Let's dig into that twisty ending, supervillain reveal
- As Deaths Surge, Scientists Study the Link Between Climate Change and Avalanches
- Nordstrom Rack 62% Off Handbag Deals: Kate Spade, Béis, Marc Jacobs, Longchamp, and More
- These $23 Men's Sweatpants Have 35,500+ 5-Star Amazon Reviews
- Nevada attorney general revives 2020 fake electors case
- Pat Sajak Leaving Wheel of Fortune After 40 Years
Ranking
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- Close Coal Plants, Save Money: That’s an Indiana Utility’s Plan. The Coal Industry Wants to Stop It.
- Eminem's Daughter Alaina Marries Matt Moeller With Sister Hailie Jade By Her Side
- Ice-fighting Bacteria Could Help California Crops Survive Frost
- Senate begins final push to expand Social Security benefits for millions of people
- Climate Change is Weakening the Ocean Currents That Shape Weather on Both Sides of the Atlantic
- Warmer Temperatures May Offer California Farmers a Rare Silver Lining: Fewer Frosts
- Residents Want a Stake in Wisconsin’s Clean Energy Transition
Recommendation
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
The Fed continues its crackdown on inflation, pushing up interest rates again
Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter mark 77th wedding anniversary
Taylor Swift releases Speak Now: Taylor's Version with previously unreleased tracks and a change to a lyric
Jamie Foxx gets stitches after a glass is thrown at him during dinner in Beverly Hills
Cities Pressure TVA to Boost Renewable Energy as Memphis Weighs Breaking Away
Lily-Rose Depp Shows Her Blossoming Love for Girlfriend 070 Shake During NYC Outing
Style Meets Function With These 42% Off Deals From Shay Mitchell's Béis