[Federal Register Volume 83, Number 212 (Thursday, November 1, 2018)]
[Notices]
[Pages 54910-54911]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2018-23859]
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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request
The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
Title: Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions.
OMB Control Number: 0607-0143.
Form Number(s): F-10.
Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
Number of Respondents: 100.
Average Hours per Response: 45 minutes.
Burden Hours: 300.
Needs and Uses: The Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions, provides a
rich source of data on public retirement systems administered by state
and local governments in the United States. Data have been collected
since 1968. Over 3.7 trillion dollars in public pension assets in the
financial markets are controlled by a small number of large retirement
systems. The Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions is used to collect
data on the assets, revenues and expenditures of the 100 largest
systems.
This survey was initiated at the request of both the Council of
Economic Advisers and the Federal Reserve Board. The most important
information this survey provides is the quarterly change in composition
of the securities holdings of the defined benefit public employee
retirement systems component of the economy. The Federal Reserve Board
uses these data to track the public sector portion of the Flow of Funds
Accounts. Additionally, the data are used by a variety of government
officials, academics, students and non-profit organizations to analyze
trends in public employee retirement and the impact of retirement
obligations on the fiscal well-being of state and local governments.
Currently, we are requesting approval to conduct the 2019, 2020 and
2021 Quarterly Survey of Public Pensions. Discussions with the Federal
Reserve Board and data providers and literature review have revealed
that there is little interest in the measurement of revenue and
benefits on a quarterly basis. Many systems do not produce these data
quarterly. Obtaining these data requires consultation with multiple
offices and the finalization of these data often lag behind asset data.
Additionally, there is burden on data providers to produce these data
quarterly. Therefore, we are proposing a realignment of content. We
request approval to modify the current questionnaire to focus on the
asset base of public employee retirement systems and to remove
questions pertaining to measurement of revenue and benefits from the
quarterly program.
The survey will provide greater focus on the asset composition of
the largest systems. These data are already produced for existing
internal and external needs, and most closely align with the needs of
the Federal Reserve Board. Additionally, the related Annual Survey of
Public Pensions (0607-0585) will continue to provide a robust
collection of revenue and benefit data on a fiscal year basis. These
data items are in demand on an annual basis and are already created for
internal and external purposes by most all systems as they are required
items in Comprehensive Annual Financial Reports (CAFRs).
Summary tables of the information collected are released quarterly
on the internet. Documentation and explanatory materials are also
available on the internet site here: https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/qspp.html.
Affected Public: State, local or Tribal government.
Frequency: Quarterly.
Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
Legal Authority: Title 13 U.S.C., Sections 161 and 182.
This information collection request may be viewed at
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce
collections currently under review by OMB.
Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information
collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of this
[[Page 54911]]
notice to [email protected] or fax to (202) 395-5806.
Sheleen Dumas,
Departmental Lead PRA Officer, Office of the Chief Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 2018-23859 Filed 10-31-18; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-07-P