Census Bureau chief promotes new community survey

Acting Census Bureau Director William Barron said Wednesday that the bureau's proposed annual American Community Survey will help it plan better for a 2010 decennial census and provide local governments with more relevant information.

"Data collected by the ACS will help Congress evaluate and modify federal programs and will provide up-to-date information for congressional districts and states," Barron told the House Government Reform Census Subcommittee.

The ACS, set to begin in 2003, could eliminate the need for the census long form, which was sent to one in six households last year. The long form asked detailed questions on everything from a respondent's marital status to household plumbing-- information governments use to administer and evaluate programs.

An annual survey would provide more current information and help the bureau refine its database of addresses for the 2010 census.

Census Subcommittee Chairman Dan Miller, R-Fla., noted the benefits of the ACS, but expressed some concern about the survey's $130 million cost in fiscal 2003 and the intrusiveness of the survey questions.

"Ultimately we must answer these and other questions in order to determine whether the ACS is the best means by which to collect the demographic information," Miller said.