Budget impasse hurts census planning: official

By Richard Cowan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A budget fight between President George W. Bush and Democrats in Congress has set back complicated preparations for the 2010 national census, which will decide the number of seats each state has in the House of Representatives, an official testified on Tuesday.

U.S. Census Bureau Director Charles Kincannon told a House panel that he has had to cancel several "dress rehearsal" census activities because additional funding, which had been expected with the October 1 start of the new fiscal year, has been delayed.

Kincannon added the agency has had to cancel some tests and delay others and that "means more risk to the 2010 census."

Every 10 years, the United States is required to conduct a national census to estimate the country's population and profile.

The 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives are apportioned among the 50 states based on the census.

The count is a gargantuan task in a large country with a highly transient population of more than 300 million.

For the next census, the government is hoping to use hand-held computers for the first time to speed canvassers' work and save money.

"I have a high level of confidence in the hand-helds. That doesn't mean I want to skate out on that ice" without proper testing, Kincannon told a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee.

The Census Bureau's money problems stem in part from Congress' inability so far to finish any of the 12 bills to fund the government in the fiscal year that began on October 1. To avoid agency shutdowns, Congress and the Bush administration worked out a stopgap funding bill through November 16.

For the most part, that is keeping the federal government running at last year's levels, which are inadequate for the Census Bureau as it moves into high gear for the 2010 census.

Democrats complained that the Bush administration failed to request additional temporary funding for the census, even though it did so for some defense, agriculture and other programs. Kincannon refused to discuss internal budget deliberations.

Kincannon said he's facing a $55 million to $76 million budget gap. If it is not addressed, the price tag for the census could rise by up to $1.5 billion, he testified. The total cost of the census is estimated at $11.5 billion.

Kincannon said funding delays forced him to cancel dry-runs on counting people living in transient locations such as motels and campgrounds. Nor will Census test procedures for counting people who live in college dormitories, military barracks, prisons or nursing homes, he said.

Kincannon said it has not yet been decided whether to cancel tests related to those of Hispanic origin and those who speak languages other than English.

Liberals have long complained that the 10-year census has missed too many low-income minorities.