News from COPAFS

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conference room was once again filled with analysts and statisticians as the September 10 COPAFS meeting got underway. Executive Director Ed Spar focused his introductory remarks on the budget situation for our statistical agencies. Common in election years, a continuation budget was approved that delays substantive action on the 2005 budget until January when a new Congress will direct the traffic. The Census Bureau has since indicated that in the absence of firm appropriations to adequately fund the American Community Survey (ACS), steps would be taken to move ahead with the traditional long form for 2010, with a corresponding canceling of the ACS entirely.

Two new data releases were highlighted at the meeting-the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) (discussed elsewhere in this newsletter) and the Quarterly Services Report (QSR) designed to provide data on the service sector. The QSR premiered September 13 and measures operating revenue in three broad industries: information service, professional scientific and technical services, and administrative and support services. Currently excluded, health and education services are planned to be added to the series in 2005. See http://www.census.gov/indicator/qss/QSS.html.

COPAFS attendees engaged in active discussion over an August 26 memorandum from Census Director Kincannon to all bureau associate directors and division chiefs regarding data requests from law enforcement and other agencies for special tabulations. Effective immediately, all such requests must now be preapproved by the appropriate associate director. The memorandum ensued as a result of the Department of Homeland Security's request for a special tabulation of Arab American respondents to the 2000 Census of Population for a specific urban area.

In addition to the ATUS presentation, three other presentations were made by Clyde Tucker of BLS (Measuring Response Rates in Federal Surveys), a group from Census (Policy Implications and Applications of Administrative Records Research Program), and Bob LaMacchia (Status of the Census Bureau's MAF/TIGER Program).

For a copy of COPAF's minutes for this and previous quarterly meetings, see http://www.copafs.org.

Paul Zelus
Idaho State University

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