The June 4 Washington Post reports that a Bush administration proposal to cut funding for the Census Bureau's "Survey on Income and Program Participation" (SIPP) will reduce the amount of information in generates over the next four years - which some members of Congress and nonprofit leaders say is a bad thing.
According to the Post report, "[SIPP] is one of the most important surveys the government conducts - the only large-scale measurement of the impact of Medicaid, food stamps, school lunches, unemployment and other safety-net programs for the poor."
The Post quotes a statement released by Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), which says "We'll have the statistical equivalent of a Katrina on our hands if the Office of Management and Budget refuses to request funding for the SIPP. We need the SIPP to determine...how to best make use of taxpayer dollars in tight fiscal times."
According to a Census Bureau official quoted by the post... Cut SIPP and cut policymakers' ability to see if and how federal programs are working well - or failing - at the state level. Do taxpayers really want to keep funding federal programs, when we don't have any way of knowing if they're impacting people in our own communities?
Let your members of Congress know that you want them to make some noise on thils. And feel free to contact the office of E.R. Anderson, deputy undersecretary for economic affairs at the Commerce Department, letting them know that voting mothers are paying attention! Anderson's office can be reached at 202.482.3727. The office of her boss, secretary for economic affairs Cynthia Glassman, can be reached at 202.482.3727.
