Federal
Statistics in the FY 2010 Budget
Edward J.
Spar, Executive Director
Council of Professional Associations on Federal
Statistics
Overview
Statistics produced by the
federal government serve as a base for research in a broad spectrum of
scientific disciplines. Population and vital statistics are central to the work
of political scientists and demographers; employment, financial, and production
data are essential for economists; and information on education and crime is
used by sociologists and psychologists.
Responsibility for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of
federal statistics is spread throughout the departments and independent
agencies of the executive branch; each of some 70 agencies and departmental
units annually spends $500,000 or more on statistical activities. Within this decentralized system that
generates statistical information, a more limited number of agencies have the
creation of statistics as their principal mission. It is these agencies that are responsible for producing
statistics on major economic, demographic, and social developments and trends
that are the focus of discussion in this chapter. The funding levels for FY 2010 that have been proposed for the
principal statistical agencies provide, for the very most part, increases over
the resources appropriated in FY 2009.
For details of the funding history in fiscal years 2008 through 2010
please see table 1. The balance of this
chapter provides further details on FY 2010 programs.
Bureau of the Census
The Bureau of the Census collects, compiles, and publishes a broad range of statistics on the population and the economy. Budget authority for the Census Bureau is provided in two appropriations: one covers current programs, including demographic surveys, international programs and data on construction, manufacturing, retail and wholesale trade, services, foreign trade, and state and local government finances and employment; the other covers periodic programs, including the decennial census of population; and the quinquennial economic censuses and the census of governments.
For FY 2010, funding is requested for the Census Bureau’s ongoing
economic and demographic programs and for a re-engineered 2010 Census. For the
2010 Census program, funding is requested to conduct the enumeration of the
population. Specifically, in 2010 the Census Bureau will carry out the major
2010 Census operations, including mail out, receipt, and processing of returned
census forms, and visit
households that do not return a census form to collect the necessary
information. Other major operations include Group Quarters Enumeration,
Update/Leave Final Address Review, Update/Enumerate (in which enumerators both
update their address registers and census maps and enumerate the housing unit
in a single visit), Military Enumeration, conducting census operations in
Puerto Rico and the Island Areas, and numerous other operations. The Census
Bureau will also conduct coverage follow-up operations and coverage measurement
field operations. The Census Bureau will continue to support these operations
through a network of 494 local census offices, 12 regional census centers, a
Puerto Rico Area Office, as well as at headquarters. In addition, the Census
Bureau will continue data collection for the American Community Survey, and
reinstate the Community Address Updating System. For the Census Bureau’s other
economic and demographic programs, funding is requested to: (1) continue to
release data for the 2007 Economic Census and conduct more than 100 annual,
quarterly, and monthly surveys that provide key
national economic
statistics; (2) begin planning for the 2012 Census of Governments; (3) operate
the Survey of Income and Program Participation at the traditional sample size
and incorporate improvements; and (4) expand the Local Employment Dynamics
program, which develops new information about local labor market conditions at
low cost, with no added respondent burden.
Bureau of Labor Statistics
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the principal
fact-finding agency in the federal government in the field of labor economics,
has a dual mission: to provide general purpose statistics that support the
formulation of economic and social policy decisions in the business and labor
communities, in legislation, and other programs affecting labor; and to serve
the program needs of the Department of Labor and other federal agencies that
use the BLS data and research findings to administer and evaluate on-going
programs, develop legislative proposals, and analyze economic and social
problems. To meet these objectives, BLS collects, processes, analyzes, and
disseminates data on employment and unemployment, projections of economic
growth, the labor force, and employment by industry and occupation, prices and
cost of living, consumer expenditures, wages and employee benefits,
occupational injuries and illnesses, collective bargaining activities, and
productivity and technological change in U.S. industries.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to support ongoing BLS programs
to measure the economy, and to: (1) continue the process, begun in 2009, of
updating continuously the housing and geographic area samples in the Consumer
Price Index (CPI), which will improve the accuracy and timeliness of the CPI;
(2) complete the
modernization of the computing systems for monthly processing of the Producer
Price Index and U.S. Import and Export Price Indexes, which will stabilize the
operating environment; (3) publish the first national Survey of Occupational
Injuries and Illnesses’ estimates of workplace injuries and illnesses incurred
by State and local government workers; and (4) begin development of
a new data series on
“green-collar” jobs that will measure employment and wages for businesses whose
primary activities can be defined as “green,” and produce information on the
occupations involved, in whole or in part, in green economic activities.
Bureau of Economic Analysis
The Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) provides a
picture of the United States economy through the preparation, development and
interpretation of the economic accounts.
These accounts consist of the national income and product accounts,
summarized by the gross domestic product (GDP); the wealth accounts that show
the business and other components of national wealth; the input-output accounts
that trace interrelationships among industrial markets; State and regional
income and product accounts; and the United States balance of payments and
associated international investment accounts.
These economic accounts provide key information on economic growth,
regional development, and the nation's position in the world economy. These data are vital ingredients in major
decisions affecting such areas as monetary and fiscal policy, social security
projections, and business planning and investment.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to continue BEA’s core
programs, and to: (1)
expand
BEA’s internal research capacity to allow quick response and adaptation to
current and future changes in the rapidly evolving service sector (which
includes finance, insurance, and real estate), where once tolerable gaps in
data now pose significant risks to the Nation’s economic indicators; (2) invest
in the personnel, data, and information technology required to produce new and
expanded GDP-related statistics that uniquely measure the role of innovation,
retirement income developments, and energy price pressures on U.S. economic
growth as part of an ongoing plan to produce a comprehensive set of real time
statistics that are relevant to the most pressing issues facing policy makers today; and (3) reexamine
and redesign surveys of multi-national corporations to maximize their
efficiency and improve their usefulness in addressing current needs while
restoring the coverage and detail of multi-national corporation data that BEA
had collected until 2008 budget constraints required programmatic cuts, (4)
improve, accelerate, and expand county-level economic statistics, (5) continue
research on a health care satellite account.
Statistics of Income, Internal Revenue Service
The Statistics of Income Division (SOI) program provides for compilation of annual income, financial, and tax data from samples of tax returns filed by individuals, corporations, partnerships, sole proprietors and tax-exempt organizations. SOI also provides periodic data based on other returns, such as those filed by estates, for estimating the wealth of the living top wealth holders, as well as on various other tax and information returns and schedules, for producing such estimates as U.S. investments abroad, foreign investments in the United States, and gains or losses from sales of capital assets.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to continue SOI’s core programs,
and to: (1)
continue to modernize tax data collection systems,
particularly to more efficiently assimilate into SOI systems data captured from
the electronic filing of tax and information returns; (2) examine means to
better mask individual records to minimize the risk of re-identification in the
Individual Public Use cross-section file;
(3) undertake a feasibility study to develop
an Individual Public Use panel data file; (4) develop statistical techniques to
identify outliers and edit data in IRS administrative population files; and (5)
develop a process for providing relevant
statistics needed for the
tax-related provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
National Agricultural Statistics Service
The Department of Agriculture published its first crop report in 1863, and further strengthened this responsibility in 1905 by creating the Crop Reporting Board (now the Agricultural Statistics Board). The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has the responsibility for collecting and publishing current national, state and county agricultural statistics. NASS collects and reports data on a wide range of production, inventories, prices paid and received by farmers, costs of production, farm labor usage and wage rates, agricultural chemical use, and other agricultural statistics. Beginning in FY 1997, NASS is responsible for the census of agriculture program, which provides comprehensive data every 5 years on all aspects of the agricultural economy down to the county level.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to continue NASS’ core programs,
and to:
(1) complete reinstatement
of the NASS Chemical Use Program (Fruit Chemical Use was reinstated in 2009);
and (2) provide a data series on bio-energy production and utilization. Within
the currently available Census of Agriculture funding, NASS will be able to
conduct the Census of Horticulture Specialties follow-on study that will
provide more in-depth information on the horticulture industry than is
available from the quinquennial Census of Agriculture.
Economic Research Service
The Economic Research Service (ERS) is a
research-oriented statistical agency that provides economic and other social
science information and analysis related to the supply, demand and performance
of domestic and international food and agricultural markets; indicators of food
and consumer issues; economic and environmental indicators of agriculture
production and resource use; and socio-economic indicators of the status and
performance of the farm sector and the rural economy.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to continue ERS’ core programs,
and to support research to develop analytical tools and assessments of the
economic implications of how environmental services markets are designed. Given
that agriculture plays a major role in domestic cap-and-trade proposals for
addressing climate change, the research will emphasize design elements of
carbon offsets markets that will permit capture of key policy variables
critical to providing guidance for policy makers. Support is requested to improve efforts in analyzing the impacts
of bio-energy production, and to examine those concerns pertaining to feedstock
storage, transportation networks, and the vagaries in commodity production.
Energy Information Administration
The Energy Information Administration (EIA) collects,
analyzes, and disseminates information on energy resources, production,
distribution, consumption, technology, and related international, economic, and
financial matters. EIA produces reports
with statistical time series, projections of future energy trends, analyses of
topical energy issues, and supports the energy information requirements of the
Department of Energy and other federal agencies. The primary customers of EIA services are public policy makers in
the Department of Energy and the Congress.
Other customers include other federal agencies, state and local
governments, the energy industry, educational institutions, the news media, and
the public.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to continue ongoing EIA
operations to maintain critical energy data coverage, analysis, and forecasting
activities, and to provide funding to close energy information gaps, address
growing energy data quality issues, and strengthen analyses. The request
enables EIA to: (1) improve the
coverage and scope of the three energy consumption surveys (residential,
commercial, manufacturing), which would provide a better understanding of the
effectiveness of Federal and State energy efficiency initiatives; (2) address
critical data quality issues, such as gasoline imports and diesel exports, and
enhancing reporting on refinery outages; (3) develop a better understanding of
the interactions between physical and financial energy markets by addressing
the role and impact of financial markets on short-term energy prices and price
volatility; (4) complete development of surveys to collect renewable fuels
data; (5) continue replacement of EIA’s aging U.S. energy model, which will
improve EIA’s ability to assess and project supply, demand, and technology
trends impacting U.S. and world energy markets; and (6) enhance integrated
State energy data products and improve timeliness of international data and
analyses.
National Center for Health Statistics
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)
monitors the Nation's health and use of health services and explores the
relationship between risk factors and disease.
Data sources include the Nation's vital statistics system and surveys
involving personal interviews, physical examinations and laboratory testing,
and information from health care providers.
The mission of NCHS is to provide statistical information that will
guide actions and policies to improve the health of the American people. Data from NCHS include the use of hospitals,
nursing homes, physician services, financial and non-financial barriers to
health care access; the health of racial and ethnic population groups; infant
mortality, access to prenatal care; death from diseases such as cancer, heart
disease, HIV/AIDS; health insurance coverage, immunization status, and other measures
used to help design and monitor the impact of programs and policies that affect
health and the health care system.
For FY 2010, the budget request would reinstate the reductions in operational capacity that
have been implemented in the past several years. These include collecting a
full 12 months of core birth and death data from states; conducting the
National Health Information Survey (NHIS) in at least 30,625 households
covering 76,562 persons; redesigning a new sample for NHIS to ensure it accurately
reflects the shifting U.S. population; conducting nationally representative
surveys of health care providers in physician offices, community health
centers, hospital outpatient and emergency departments, and other selected
settings; and maintaining continuous field operations for the National Health
and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Furthermore, the increase will
enable NCHS to maintain the timely release of data files; the quality of
reports released in print and on the Internet; and the number and quality of
data access tools that ensure data are available in easily accessible forms.
National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) collects, analyzes and reports statistics on education in the United States, and conducts studies on comparisons of international education statistics. NCES also provides leadership in developing and promoting the use of standardized terminology and definitions for the collection of education statistics.
In FY 2010, funding is requested to continue NCES’ core
programs, and to:
(1) conduct the National
Assessment of Educational Progress, including 2010 national U.S. history,
civics, and geography assessments at grades 4, 8, and
12; analysis of a 2009 high school transcript
study; and preparation for 2011 Trial Urban District Assessments in 17
districts; (2) continue a new teacher longitudinal study to follow teachers who
were in the 2007–2008 Schools and
Staffing Survey as
first-year teachers; (3) provide technical assistance to State education
agencies to improve the use of State longitudinal data systems;
(4) prepare for the
Programme for the International Assessment of Adult
Competencies, an
international assessment scheduled for 2011; (5) support future data collections
examining participation of preschool children in non-parental education and
care arrangements, and (6) provide State-level data for a small number of
States for the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of
2010–2011.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is responsible
for the collection, analysis, and publication of statistical information on
crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operations of justice
systems at all levels of government and internationally. The mission of the Bureau is to provide
accurate and timely justice data and to support the emerging capacity of State
and local governments in the use of these data for their justice programs.
For FY 2010, funding is requested for the improvement of BJS’
criminal victimization statistics derived from the National Crime Victimization
Survey (NCVS), and maintenance of BJS’ other core statistical programs,
including:
(1) cybercrime data on the
incidence, magnitude, and consequences to households and businesses of
electronic and computer crime; (2) law enforcement data from more than 3,000
local agencies on the organization and administration of police and sheriffs’
departments; (3) nationally representative
prosecution data on resources,
policies, and practices of local prosecutors; (4) court and sentencing
statistics, including Federal and State case processing data; and (5) data on
correctional populations and facilities from Federal, State, and local
governments, including information about prisoner re-entry and recidivism.
Within funds sought for the NCVS, BJS will also seek to improve the
usefulness of the survey by
addressing recommendations of the 2008 National Research Council report, Surveying
Victims: Options for Conducting the National Crime Victimization Survey.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics
The Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)
legislative mandate covers: 1) The Intermodal Transportation Database; 2) The
National Transportation Atlas Database; 3) The National Ferry Database; 4) The
National Transportation Library; 5) The Transportation Statistics Annual
Report; 6) Statistical guidelines, standards, and research; 7) The Advisory
Council on Transportation Statistics; and 8) An information needs study by the
National Research Council (due in 2007).
BTS is now within the Research and Innovation Technology Administration.
For FY 2010, funding is requested to support the development and
improvement of transportation system performance measures and for the
maintenance of BTS’ core statistical programs, including: (1) production of the
improved final data
products from the Commodity
Flow Survey; (2) improvement of the National Census of Ferry Operators used to
allocate resources for ferry operations and infrastructure; (3) production of
transportation data for enhancing livable
communities; (4) release of
monthly statistics on the commodities and modes of transportation used in
international trade with the United States’ major trading partners; (5)
production of a core set of transportation performance indicators including the
Transportation Services Index; and (6) collection, analysis, and dissemination
of airline performance data.
Sciences Resource Statistics, National Science
Foundation
The legislative mandate for Science Resource
Statistics (SRS), as stated in the National Science Foundation Act of 1950, as
amended, is, “…to provide a central clearinghouse for the collection,
interpretation, and analysis of data on scientific and engineering resources
and to provide a source of information for policy formulation by other agencies
of the federal government….” To meet
this mandate, SRS provides policymakers, researchers and other decision makers
with high quality data and analysis for making informed decisions about the
nation’s science, engineering, and technology enterprise. The work of SRS involves survey development,
data collection, analysis, information compilation, dissemination, and customer
service to meet the statistical demands of a diverse user community, as well as
preparation of the biennial reports Science and Engineering Indicators
and Women and Minorities and Persons with Disabilities in Science and
Engineering.
In FY 2010 Funding is
requested to implement
ongoing programs on the science and engineering enterprise, and to: (1)
continue redesign and improvement activities for a broad range of surveys,
particularly the 2010 sample frame
redesign for the National
Survey of College Graduates and the suite of research and development surveys;
(2) support the Science of Science and Innovation Policy program’s efforts to
develop the data, tools, and knowledge needed for a new science of science
policy by enhancing the comparability, scope, and availability of international
data; (3) develop a pilot data collection on post-doctorates based on
feasibility activities in 2006–2009; (4) develop an innovation module for the
Higher Education Research and Development survey; and (5) continue development
work on the Micro-business R&D and Innovation survey.
Table 1. Principal Federal Statistical Agencies (Total direct
funding in millions )
FY 2008
FY 2009 FY 2010
Actual Estimate
Request
Bureau of the Census: Current
Programs................$ 232.8 $
263.6 $ 289.0
Periodic Programs...............…1,234.0 3,906.3
7,115.7
Bureau of
Labor Statistics......................................…468.5 518.9 533.4
Bureau of Economic
Analysis................................…... 77.5 87.0 101.0
Statistics of Income, IRS.........................................……
36.0 42.3 43.0
National Agricultural Statistics
Service.................……. 110.2
114.3 123.9
Census of
Agriculture...............…….
52.0 37.3 37.9
Economic Research Service………………………………77.9 79.5 82.1
Energy Information
Administration........................….…
95.5 110.6 133.1
National Center for Health Statistics
......................…. 113.6 124.7 138.6
National Center for Education Statistics...
................. …88.4
98.5 108.5
Bureau of Justice
Statistics....................................…… 34.8 45.0 60.0
Bureau of Transportation
Statistics.........................…… 27.0 27.0
28.0
Science Resource Statistics NSF ...........................….. 36.3 45.4 41.5