Coburn Issues Census Challenge

Seeks to Harness Private Sector Innovation to Bring Down Cost of 2010 Census



(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Tom Coburn, M.D. (R-OK) today issued a challenge to the private sector calling for proposals to address the rapidly rising cost of the 2010 Census. The challenge will go out to those in industry, academia, government and elsewhere who may have innovative ideas for bringing the cost down.



“The American people are far more innovative than their government in almost every respect. The Census Bureau’s reluctance to employ new methods and online tools goes against the grain of common sense. If we can collect taxes online from any tax filers, surely we can count every American quickly, inexpensively and accurately,” Dr. Coburn said.



At a hearing this afternoon of the Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management (FFM), the Census Bureau will announce that the most recent cost of the next census is estimated to be at least $11.5 billion. When broken down on a per household basis, it will cost more than $90 to count each household.



The Government Accountability Office has reported that the 2010 count is vulnerable to potentially fatal management and technical failures, as well as the massive cost over-runs that have characterized each Census in recent decades. The cost has gone from under a billion dollars in 1970, doubling by 1980 ($2.2 billion), increasing by 50 percent in 1990 ($3.3 billion), doubling again in 2000 to $6.6 billion and now doubling again to somewhere around a projected cost of $12 billion for 2010. The American population has not increased at a proportional rate. In fact, the per-household cost of the first census in 1790 was less than a penny. In 1970, it was under $2. Yet somehow, the cost today is at $90 per household. The Census Bureau has refused to provide an option to Americans to be counted online, despite the fact that more than 70 percent of American adults are online.



“It is time for out-of-the-box thinking to rein in costs, increase efficiency and still fulfill the Constitutional mandate to count every American,” Dr. Coburn said.



The objectives of the Census Challenge will be:



· To receive numerous proposals from successful businesses, technology and logistics experts and creative citizens throughout America for innovative ideas for ways to conduct the census for less than $90 a household and still maintain high data quality.



· To collect the proposals and to present them to the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Census Bureau for their consideration and comment.



· To consider the possibility of legislative remedies that may assist the Census Bureau in conducting a more efficient and effective decennial census.



To submit proposals, visit the FFM Web site at
Coburn site