Denies Demanding 30 Be Dropped : Budget Office Says Census Questions Need Rationale

WASHINGTON —  A top official of the Office of Management and Budget said Friday that her agency has asked the Census Bureau to explain why it wants U.S. citizens to answer certain questions in the proposed questionnaire being designed for the 1990 census.

Wendy Gramm, head of OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, denied during a congressional hearing that the OMB has proposed dropping several questions from the questionnaire.

“I don’t think there are any questions, yet, that need to be dropped,” Gramm said.

She added, however, that the budget office has raised questions about as many as 30 questions being proposed for the national head count, asking the Census Bureau for more justification for including them on the forms.

Census Bureau Charges

Gramm testified before the Joint Economic Committee, which called the session to look into charges by the Census Bureau that the budget office had proposed cutting 30 questions from forms to be used in its 1988 dress rehearsals for the 1990 census.

Changing the 1988 form would likely require the same changes in the 1990 form, which must be completed by next April, the bureau said. The cuts would reduce the information collected by about one-third.

“Since OMB’s proposed reductions were first announced, the Joint Economic Committee has received numerous and vigorous protests from a wide range of statistics users in the public and private sector alike,” said Sen. Paul S. Sarbanes (D-Md.).

Rep. James H. Scheuer (D-N.Y.) told Gramm that the Census Bureau should not have to justify every question according to the needs of some specific agency.

No ‘Slash and Burn’

“We’re not talking about cut, slash and burn,” Gramm said. She insisted that all the budget office has done is ask for more detail on why certain questions are needed.

No recommendation has been made, she continued, and the agency will continue to seek comment on the census form until Sept. 14.

Janet Norwood, commissioner of labor statistics, told the committee that suggestions from the budget office that some questions on income and employment be dropped would eliminate “critical” information.

Without details on the number of weeks worked, her agency would not be able to establish formal wage earner definitions, she said.