[Analytical Perspectives]
[Special Analyses and Presentations]
[11. Strengthening Federal Statistics]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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11. STRENGTHENING FEDERAL STATISTICS
Our economy's complexity, growth, and rapid structural changes demand
that public and private leaders have unbiased, relevant information on
which to base their decisions. Data on real Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), the Consumer Price Index (CPI), and the trade deficit, for
example, have a major impact on government spending, budget projections,
and the allocation of Federal funds. They also are critical inputs to
monetary, fiscal, trade, and regulatory policy. Economic data, such as
measures of price change, have as well a significant influence on
interest rates and cost-of-living adjustments that affect every American
who runs a business, saves for retirement, or mortgages a home.
Similarly, timely, comparable data on the characteristics of the U.S.
population are essential to monitor societal changes. Of great import in
2001 will be the delivery of Census 2000 data used to apportion
congressional seats among the States, redistrict at State and local
levels, and allocate locally each year nearly $200 billion in Federal
funds. In 1999 and 2000, our Nation invested the resources necessary to
plan and implement the most extensive effort ever to count every
American. Greater understanding of the value and importance of accurate
and complete Census 2000 data has been realized through local
partnerships established nationwide and through an ambitious advertising
and promotion program.
The American Community Survey (ACS) is a revolutionary initiative of
the statistical system that will provide community profiles similar to
those from the decennial census on a far more current basis. For
geographic areas with populations greater than 65,000, these profiles
will be produced every year. For smaller areas, the ACS will accumulate
or average data over several years to obtain annual estimates similar in
quality and reliability to those currently available only once each
decade. Thus, every jurisdiction ultimately will have annual information
that illuminates change over time. (The official counts of the
population will continue to come from the decennial census and the
intercensal estimates program.) Because the American Community Survey
will provide essentially the same information as the current decennial
census long form, the Census Bureau plans to eliminate the long form in
the 2010 Census, thereby focusing that effort on counting the
population. In 2001, continued development of the Master Address File
will be a key component of this longer-term strategy.
Under the aegis of the congressionally-mandated Interagency Council on
Statistical Policy (ICSP), the principal statistical agencies continue
to extend their collaborative endeavors to improve the overall
performance and efficiency of the Federal statistical system. For
example, the ICSP is supporting FedStats (www.fedstats.gov), the ``one-
stop shopping'' Internet site for Federal statistics that permits easy
access via an initial point of entry to the wide array of statistical
information available to the public from 70 Federal agencies. In 1999,
FedStats increased from 28 to 40 the number of agencies whose data
series are indexed there, developed a Kid's Page to foster improvements
in statistical literacy by linking to agency Web pages especially
designed for children in elementary through high school, and launched an
interactive map-based application to access State and county data.
The statistical system is also working effectively to enhance the
quality of the data agencies produce. For example, last year the
Administration actively supported House passage of the Statistical
Efficiency Act of 1999 (H.R. 2885) that will permit limited sharing of
confidential data among selected agencies solely for statistical
purposes. Enactment of this legislation will create the framework for
statistical agencies to compare and improve the quality of their data.
Senate passage of this legislation, and congressional action on a
companion Treasury Department proposal that would make complementary
changes to provisions set forth in the ``Statistical Use'' section of
the Internal Revenue Code, continue to be top priorities of the
Administration.
Despite these accomplishments, rapid changes in our economy and
society, and funding levels that do not enable statistical agencies to
keep pace with them, can threaten the relevance and accuracy of our
Nation's key statistics. Any growing inability of our statistical system
to mirror accurately our economy and society, including the
unprecedented growth of electronic commerce, could undermine core
government activities, such as the accurate allocation of scarce Federal
funds. Fortunately, the most serious shortcomings of our statistical
infrastructure would be substantially mitigated by five proposals set
forth in the Administration's budget. In particular, these initiatives
would:
develop an integrated statistical base for analysis of the
effects of E-business across our Nation's products and
industries, including changes in the structure of investment,
pricing, and distribution practices (Bureau of Economic
Analysis and the Bureau of the Census);
support the tabulation, analysis, and dissemination of
Census 2000 data and related evaluations of their accuracy and
coverage in order to reap the benefits of Census 2000
investments (Bureau of the Census);
improve coverage of the construction and service sectors in
the Producer Price Index (which may also produce
methodological techniques that further improve the Consumer
Price Index) and en
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hance coverage of the service sector in BLS productivity
estimates (Bureau of Labor Statistics);
continue the phased implementation of the American
Community Survey program to produce far more timely data for
States and local areas that will be used for various purposes,
including the distribution of nearly $200 billion in Federal
funds annually (Bureau of the Census); and
provide new statutory authority for the limited sharing of
data among designated Federal agencies solely for statistical
purposes. The proposed changes would permit these statistical
agencies to manage information in many important respects as
if they were part of a single agency, thereby increasing the
accuracy of statistical estimates and the efficiency of
Federal data collection.
Taken together, statistics produced by the Federal Government on
demographic, economic, and social conditions and trends are essential to
inform decisions that are made by virtually every organization and
household in our Nation. The U.S. Federal statistical system comprises
some 70 agencies that collect, analyze, and disseminate information for
use by governments, businesses, researchers, and the public.
Approximately one third of the funding for the statistical system
provides resources for ten agencies that have statistical activities as
their principal mission. (Please see Table 11-1.) The remaining funding
is spread among some sixty agencies that carry out statistical
activities in conjunction with other missions such as providing services
or enforcing regulations. The following highlights elaborate on the
Administration's proposals to strengthen the programs of the principal
Federal statistical agencies.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 2001 PROGRAM CHANGES FOR PRINCIPAL STATISTICAL AGENCIES
Bureau of Economic Analysis: Funding is requested to develop new data
sources and methods to measure rapidly growing E-business activity and
to incorporate that information into BEA's economic accounts. In order
to account for the impact of E-business on the economy, BEA will work
with other statistical agencies to: (1) ensure that E-business,
including related investment, is captured in our estimates of Gross
Domestic Product and other economic accounts data, and (2) develop
estimates of the impact of E-business across products and industries,
including investment, prices, and distribution.
Bureau of Justice Statistics: Funding is requested to: (1) develop an
ongoing statistical program that provides systematic and recurring
information on criminal victimization of persons with disabilities; (2)
develop and monitor statistical measures designed to examine concerns
about racial discrimination in the administration of justice; (3) gather
administrative data from law enforcement agencies on the content and
consequences of police-initiated stops of motorists for routine traffic
violations; (4) begin converting existing paper-based collections of
administrative data from State and local units of government to
Internet-based, paperless collection programs; (5) gather information on
changes over time in the incidence and prevalence, costs and
consequences, and prosecutions, convictions, and sentencing of computer
crime offenses; (6) produce consistent annual measures of the incidence
of hate crimes; and (7) develop a tribal data collection program to
collect data on the types and characteristics of criminal justice
agencies operating in these jurisdictions.
Bureau of Labor Statistics: Funding is requested to: (1) extend
Producer Price Index (PPI) coverage for the first time to the
construction sector of the U.S. economy, and enhance coverage of the
service sector in the PPI and in BLS productivity data; (2) begin a new
survey to measure how Americans spend their time in order to improve
assessments of national well-being and production, and produce diary
estimates of time spent in market work to evaluate existing estimates of
hours of work; (3) provide technical guidance for a new Federal-State
cooperative employment projections program to enhance the comparability
of data among the States, and between State and national projections;
(4) increase the scope of labor market information for States and local
areas, and improve the statistical quality of local area unemployment
statistics used to allocate Federal funds; (5) deploy and operate a
comprehensive and sound information technology security environment
(through a central Department of Labor appropriation); and (6) contract
with the National Research Council (NRC) to develop improved methods to
measure discrimination in labor markets and employment relationships.
Bureau of the Census: Funding is requested for Census 2000, for Census
Bureau economic and demographic programs, and for renovation of the
Bureau's headquarters at the Suitland Federal Center. For Census 2000,
funding is requested to: (1) tabulate and disseminate data; (2) complete
field work associated with the Accuracy and Coverage Evaluation (ACE)
follow-up operations; (3) close out data capture centers and field
offices that remained open longer as a result of increased work loads;
(4) deliver to the President, by December 31, 2000, the data that will
be used to apportion congressional seats among the States; (5) deliver
local population counts to the States for redistricting by March 31,
2001; (6) compare data from the American Community Survey (ACS) with
Census 2000 results; and (7) begin to evaluate census operations. For
Census Bureau economic and demographic programs, funding is requested
to: (1) measure E-business; (2) conduct an annual Survey of Minority-
Owned Business Enterprises (SMOBE); (3) increase the coverage of export
data; (4) continue planning for the 2002 Economic Censuses and Census of
Governments; (5) improve measurement of economic well-being; and (6)
redesign samples for household surveys. Funding is also requested to
under
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take planning to renovate the aging, inadequate, and failing building
systems at the Suitland Federal Center.
Bureau of Transportation Statistics: Funding is requested to: (1)
establish a statistical consulting service to assist department-wide
statistical activities and provide support for improving data quality
and timeliness for departmental GPRA-related data; (2) develop measures
of risk versus measures of exposure to improve the quality of
transportation safety data; (3) continue work with the Federal Highway
Administration to combine and coordinate the Nationwide Personal
Transportation Survey with the American Travel Survey; (4) manage
development of the congressionally mandated Intermodal Transportation
Data Base, an Internet-based data access and dissemination tool that
enables quick response to data-related questions; (5) improve data
analyses on patterns of passenger travel and goods movements; (6)
initiate development of a comprehensive National Spatial Data
Infrastructure by integrating road network data developed at State and
local levels; (7) improve statistical tools for geo-spatial data
analyses and promote their use in transportation applications; and (8)
undertake analyses as directed by Congress in the Transportation Equity
Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21), including the International Trade
Impact Study and other studies related to international transportation.
Economic Research Service: Funding is requested to: (1) analyze the
effects of changes in the structure of the food and agriculture sectors
on the competitiveness and efficiency of food and agricultural markets;
(2) undertake research and outreach programs on international issues
affecting the U.S. food and agriculture sectors and on alleviation of
causes of global food insecurity; and (3) support an initiative on
economic incentives for carbon sequestration and trace gas emissions
control in agriculture. The decrease in ERS total funding reflects the
proposal to return funds ($12 million) for the evaluation of domestic
food assistance programs to the Food and Nutrition Service.
Energy Information Administration: Funding is requested to: (1)
overhaul the natural gas and electricity surveys and data systems to
recognize and accommodate the changes in the natural gas and electricity
industries brought on by deregulation and restructuring; (2) update
EIA's 20-year-old energy consumption surveys; (3) enhance EIA's
international analysis capabilities in order to assess carbon
mitigation, permit trading, and other global climate change issues; (4)
reverse the deterioration in data quality and accuracy in crude oil,
diesel, gasoline, and natural gas production surveys; and (5) continue
development and integration of energy survey data collection and
processing to reduce the costs and improve the timeliness of energy
data.
National Agricultural Statistics Service: Funding is requested to: (1)
establish a computer security architecture to strengthen NASS's
cybersecurity in light of the market sensitivity of the reports
released; (2) conduct a monthly hog survey to provide information
covering the 17 largest hog-producing States, which account for 92
percent of the U.S. inventory; and (3) collect additional pesticide use
information for an expanded list of field crops to address gaps in data
needed for accurate chemical risk assessments under the Food Quality
Protection Act. The net decrease in the Census of Agriculture program
reflects the completion of the Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership
Survey that is conducted once each decade.
National Center for Education Statistics: Funding is requested to: (1)
continue redesign of the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System
(IPEDS) for a new web-based system; (2) improve dissemination of
consumer information on college costs and prices; (3) support the
Longitudinal Surveys Program, including the new Educational Longitudinal
Study of 2002; (4) continue work on the Birth Cohort of the Early
Childhood Longitudinal Study; (5) support Institutional Census Surveys
for the Common Core of Data and Libraries programs; (6) improve the
Statistics Research and Development Program; and (7) enhance the
National Assessment of Educational Progress' research capabilities in
Longitudinal Research and Exceptional Children Exclusion Research.
National Center for Health Statistics: Funding is requested to: (1)
continue work with States to improve the vital statistics system,
including movement toward implementing new model birth and death
certificates, and helping to develop electronic birth and death
registration systems; (2) proceed with the sample redesign for the
National Health Interview Survey, part of a government-wide redesign of
household surveys following the decennial census; (3) continue the field
operations for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; (4)
make further improvements to surveys for monitoring the health care
delivery system, including organizational and financial arrangements of
providers, as part of a public/private effort to address major data gaps
in this area; and (5) make data more readily available to users by
improving timeliness and access through use of automated systems and the
Internet.
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Table 11-1. 1999-2001 BUDGET AUTHORITY FOR PRINCIPAL STATISTICAL AGENCIES
(In millions of dollars)
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1999 actual 2000 estimate 2001 estimate
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Bureau of Economic Analysis........................................ 43.1 43.8 48.9
Bureau of Justice Statistics....................................... 25.0 25.5 33.2
Bureau of Labor Statistics......................................... 398.9 413.4 453.6 \1\
Bureau of the Census............................................... 1,384.8 4,753.3 719.2
Periodic Censuses and Programs................................... 1,238.7 4,613.3 545.4
Salaries and Expenses............................................ 146.1 140.0 173.8
Bureau of Transportation Statistics................................ 31.0 31.0 31.0
Economic Research Service.......................................... 65.0 65.4 55.4 \2\
Energy Information Administration.................................. 70.2 72.4 75.0
National Agricultural Statistics Service \3\....................... 104.0 99.4 100.6
National Center for Education Statistics........................... 108.0 108.0 126.5
Statistics....................................................... 68.0 68.0 84.0
Assessment....................................................... 36.0 36.0 38.0
National Asessment Governing Board............................... 4.0 4.0 4.5
National Center for Health Statistics.............................. 94.5 105.0 110.0
PHS Evaluation Funds............................................. 67.8 71.7 76.7
Budget Authority................................................. 26.7 33.3 33.3
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\1\ Increase includes a new transfer of $20.7 million from elsewhere in the Department of Labor to centralize
the preparation of labor market information.
\2\ Decrease reflects the proposal to return the 2000 transfer of $12 million for the evaluation of domestic
food assistance programs to the Food and Nutrition Service.
\3\ Includes funds for the periodic Census of Agriculture and Special Studies of $23.6, $16.5, and $15.0
(million) in 1999, 2000, and 2001, respectively.