[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 136 (Monday, July 16, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 36996-36997]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-17636]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

Census Bureau


Proposed Information Collection; 2002 Census of Governments--
Government Employment Phase

ACTION: Proposed collection; comment request.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Commerce, as part of its continuing effort 
to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public 
and other Federal agencies to take this opportunity to comment on 
proposed and/or continuing information collections, as required by the 
Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, Public Law 104-13 (44 U.S.C. 
3506(c)(2)(A)).

DATES: Written comments must be submitted on or before September 14, 
2001.

ADDRESSES: Direct all written comments to Madeleine Clayton, 
Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Department of Commerce, Room 
6086, 14th and Constitution Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20230 (or via 
the Internet at [email protected]).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or 
copies of the information collection instrument(s) and instructions 
should be directed to Ellen Thompson, Chief, Employment Branch, 
Governments Division, U.S. Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233-6800 
(301 457-1531).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Abstract

    Title 13, Section 161, of the United States Code requires the 
Secretary of Commerce to conduct a Census of Governments every 5 years. 
The 2002 Census of Governments includes 3 phases--Organization, 
Employment and Finance. For the Employment phase, these authorizations 
include, but are not limited to, collecting and disseminating data by 
function for full-time and part-time employees, payroll, and number of 
part-time hours worked.
    The state and local government statistics produced cover national, 
state, local, and type-of-government aggregates on various functions 
with comparative detail for individual governments for the pay period 
that includes March 12. The employment survey provides the only 
comprehensive count of employees and payrolls in state and local 
governments. Government employees constitute approximately one-sixth of 
the entire U.S. workforce and their salaries are a major source of 
personal income.
    The Census Bureau provides these employment data to the Bureau of 
Economic Analysis (BEA) for constructing the functional payrolls in the 
public sector Gross Domestic Product, payroll being the single largest 
component of current operations. Other government users include the 
Bureau of Labor Statistics, as a benchmark for its monthly employment 
programs, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to 
establish payroll guidelines for local public housing authorities.
    The employment survey has increasingly been used as the base for 
reimbursable programs of other Federal agencies such as: (1) The 
government portion of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey commissioned 
by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to provide timely, 
comprehensive information about health care use and costs in the United 
States; and (2) the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) Criminal Justice 
Expenditure and Employment Survey, which provides criminal justice 
expenditure and employment data on spending and personnel levels; and 
(3) the BJS Justice Assistance Data Survey, for sample verification and 
the existence of contracted services.
    Findings are produced as data files in both electronic and printed 
formats. The program has made possible the dissemination of 
comprehensive and comparable governmental statistics since 1940.
    The many users of the Census of Governments data include Federal 
agencies, state and local governments and related organizations, public 
interest groups, the academic community, and many business, market, and 
private research organizations.

II. Method of Collection

    Each of the 90,000 state and local governments designated for the 
census will be sent an appropriate form or the data will be collected 
through a data sharing arrangement between Census and the state 
government.
    We developed cooperative agreements with state and large local 
government officials to collect the data from their dependent agencies 
and report to us as one central respondent. These arrangements reduce 
the need for a mail canvass of approximately 2700 state agencies and 
700 school systems. Currently we have central collection agreements 
with 36 states and four school district governments.
    We are in the process of expanding the conversion of paper 
submissions

[[Page 36997]]

into electronic formats, for individual units and central collection 
units.

III. Data

    OMB Number: None.
    Form Number: E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, E-7, E-9.
    Type of Review: Regular.
    Affected Public: State governments and local governments, including 
counties, cities, townships, special district, and public school 
systems.
    Estimated Number of Respondents: 77,273.
    Estimated Average Time Per Response: 0.8884 hours.
    Estimated Total Annual Burden Hours: 68,649.
    Estimated Total Annual Cost: $1,171,838.

    Note: Based upon the average hourly pay for full-time equivalent 
employment for the financial administration function within the 2000 
annual survey of state and local government employment.

    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13 United States Code, Section 161.

IV. Request for Comments

    Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the proposed collection of 
information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of 
the agency, including whether the information shall have practical 
utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden 
(including hours and cost) of the proposed collection of information; 
(c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the 
information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the 
collection of information on respondents, including through the use of 
automated collection techniques or other forms of information 
technology.
    Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized 
and/or included in the request for OMB approval of this information 
collection; they also will become a matter of public record.

    Dated: July 10, 2001.
Madeleine Clayton,
Departmental Paperwork Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief 
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 01-17636 Filed 7-13-01; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P