APDU joins Friends of BLS, expresses concerns about recent budget actions

APDU joined a group of concerned national organizations, representing the newly formed Friends of BLS, to meet with Justin Gibbons and Stephen Steigleder, staffers for the Labor/HHS/Education Appropriations Subcommittee on April 25 to express our concerns about how recent budget actions have impacted Bureau of Labor Statistics data.  The group recommended a $619.5 million funding level for BLS, slightly above the President’s request, to help BLS reinstate cuts made to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages and the Import/Export Prices Index program.  Others participating in the meeting included the American Statistical Association, Council for Community and Economic Research, International Council of Shopping Centers, and the National Association of Business Economists.

On a related front, the House Commerce, Justice, and Science Subcommittee reported its mark-up of key statistical agencies, including $92.5 million below the President’s request for Census and $12 million below the President’s request for the Bureau of Economic Analysis.  The Census language would require the agency to ask questions about health insurance in the same way the agency has in the past.