past Media and Updates

Help Preserve Funding for the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)

Researchers, policymakers and advocates all rely upon the SIPP to provide accurate assessments of the effectiveness of public programs like Food Stamps, Social Security and Medicaid

July 10, 2006

Dear SIPP supporters,

I hope you had a good 4th and are able to take a moment today to help us fight for independent, policy-relevant longitudinal data. This week the Senate will meet to determine next year's budget for the Census Bureau. If the Senate does not fully fund Census, we stand to lose any gains we have made in preserving funding for the Survey of Income and
Program Participation (SIPP).

Before heading back to their districts last week, the entire House voted on the Science, State, Justice and Commerce appropriations bill, which includes the budget for the Census Bureau. While the bill was on the floor, several amendments were added to take $58.3 million away from the Census to fund other projects. The Census Bureau cannot prepare for the 2010 decennial census, and continue the SIPP, with a budget shortfall. If the Senate does not increase funding for the Census, we will probably lose the SIPP when the two bills are sent to be reconciled in conference later this year.

Senator Mikulski is the ranking member on the Senate Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. The subcommittee will be meeting on Tuesday to set the funding level for the Census Bureau.

Please take a moment today to call or email Greg Polley on Sen. Shelby's staff. Sen.
Shelby is the Chair of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. Contact Greg Polley via email or at phone number 202-224-5744.

Following is a sample email that you can also use as a call-in script. For more talking points and background on the SIPP, visithttp://www.ceprdata.org/savesipp/index.php.

Please forward this message to your colleagues and feel free to contact me if you have any questions at 202-293-5380 x110.

Sincerely,

Liz Chimienti
CEPR

Dear ______,

On June 20, the House Appropriations Committee voted to add $10 million
to the Census Bureau's budget for the Survey of Income and Program
Participation (SIPP). I applaud this effort to restore funding to the
SIPP; however, I am concerned about the $58.3 million in cuts to the
overall Census Bureau budget that were made on the floor last week. The
Census Bureau cannot prepare for the 2010 decennial census and continue
the SIPP with a budget shortfall.

Researchers, policymakers and advocates all rely upon the SIPP to
provide accurate assessments of the effectiveness of public programs
like Food Stamps, Social Security and Medicaid. At $40 million a year,
the SIPP is the only source of policy-relevant, longitudinal data on
programs that cost federal and state governments billions of dollars a
year. As a nation, we cannot afford to lose data for the next 5-10 years
while the Census investigates designing a new survey. The SIPP should be
fully funded until a new survey has been designed, evaluated, and
peer-reviewed.

As you consider appropriations for FY 2007, please fully fund the
Census Bureau and support any amendment to increase funding for the
SIPP.

Sincerely,

Name
Address