Date: 1987-08-20
Speaker: WENDY GRAMM (republican)
Chamber: Unknown

Administrator. Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. Office of Management and Budget. Washington. DC. DEAR DR. GRAMM: The Detroit Regional Census Advisory Council is gravely concerned about the proposed reduction of questions for the 1990 Census. The Council. as indicated by the attached membership list. includes representatives of the major. data producers and users in southeast Michigan. We believe that this decision is illadvised and should be reversed. the 1988 Dress Rehearsal questionnaire should be approved as submitted by the Bureau of the Census. The Census Bureau has conducted a long and thorough process leading to development of this questionnaire. Federal government needs were identified through the Federal Agency Council. chaired by your office. Other governmental needs. as well as those of the general public. were ascertained through a long series of local public meetings beginningin 1984. Legislation and governmental regulations requiring use of census data have been reviewed at all levels. To meet these needs. the questions proposed for deletion must be included. Let me cite just a few examples: * The labor force questions provide data used to determine ratios for estimating unemployment levels and rates for subcounty areas. These are used in Job Training Partnership Act funding. *The item on place of residence five years ago provides the measurement of migration: the patterns and characteristics of people moving from one place to another. A benchmark derived from these data is important for interpretating migration rates derived from matched Income tax returns as used in population estimates. The erstwhile General Revenue Sharing program and others depend on these numbers. * Rent and value provide the only socioeconomic measure available for very small areas. including voting precincts. The fact that respondents may misstate value. estimating it too high. is unimportant because the item is used to compare one area to another. rather than for its absolute value. Vehicles available is critical for planning for public transit needs in an era of scarce resources. The Decennial Census is the premier data collection activity of the nation. Because Its constitutionally mandated function requires that every household and every resident be contacted. it is unique as a vehicle for collecting the variety of auxilliary information that is so important for the wide range of planning and decision making over a tenyear period. For this reason. we do not believe that the Decennial Census should be viewed as a paperwork burden at all. Fifteen minutes. or even 45 minutes. of a households time once in ten years is a minimal effort to spend for this very Important result. If paperwork needs to be reduced. let us find other vehicles for that effort. The Decennial Census should be left alone. We hope that. with the additional information that has been presented to you by both the Bureau of the Census and the data user community throughout the nation. you will see fit to reverse the decision made on July 24 and proceed forthwith to approve the questionnaire as submitted. Sincerely.