Census Bureau Gets Two Thirds of Requested Budget

President Biden has signed into law the Consolidated Appropriations Act 2024, which among most other federal agencies provides the U.S. Census Bureau with its budget to September 30th. At $1.382bn, the Bureau's fund is well below the $2bn that Census stakeholders had urged.

In a statement accompanying the bill, Congress directs the Census Bureau to prioritize cyber protection and high standards of data differential privacy, while also maintaining the accuracy of the data; to spend $6.2m on supporting the Population Estimates program and improve the annual estimates upon which communities across the country rely; and to provide a report to the Committees within 90 days on the methodology, implementation, incurred and projected costs, procurement strategy and other features of the Ask U.S. Panel Survey.

An amendment put forward in the Senate by Bill Hagerty (R-TN) would have authorized a citizenship question on the decennial census and excluded non-citizens from apportionment counts, but was rejected.

Web site: www.census.gov .