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Friday, June 01, 2007
Administration Drops Opposition to Data Collection Program
About a year ago, we reported on the administration's opposition to continued funding of the Survey of Income and Program Participation, or "SIPP." SIPP, you may recall is an ongoing program that ""collect[s] source and amount of income, labor force information, program participation and eligibility data, and general demographic characteristics to measure the effectiveness of existing federal, state, and local programs." It is an indispensable source of data for researchers and policy makers that allows them to asses the effectiveness of government assistance programs.
Yesterday, the administration flip-flopped reversed its stance of the program, and dropped its opposition. There's one tiny catch - Bush has not revised his 2008 budget to include funding for the program, and OMB Director Rob Portman has stated that he would advise the president to veto spending bills that exceed the president's request. The absence of a line item in the president's budget for SIPP could cause its demise.
From a statement by Heather Boushey, Senior Economist, Center for Economic and Policy Research:
The Census Bureau has recently indicated that, without additional funding, it will start a new SIPP panel with only half of the standard number of respondents. This is unacceptable. Interviewing only half as many people would severely limit researchers' ability to examine particular government programs, sub-populations and state-level data. Many government programs, such as Temporary Assistance for Needy Families or child care subsidies, affect only small shares of the U.S. population, so a smaller sample would not provide enough data to properly assess these programs. It would also make it difficult, if not impossible, to assess demographic trends at the state level (such as wealth, childcare usage, etc.), even for larger states like North Carolina or Washington.
Posted by Craig Jennings
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