Wins for Insights Industry in Final 2020 COVID-19 Relief and Funding Package: Census; PPP Forgivable Small Business Loans; and Payroll Tax Credit Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 12/23/2020 5:04:00 PM Presuming President Trump signs it into law, the omnibus package of coronavirus relief and Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) appropriations includes important wins for the insights industry: (1) funding for the census; (2) the extension and expansion of forgivable loans for small businesses; and (3) the extension of the payroll retention tax credit. Read More
Feds End Decade With a Fully Funded 2020 Census Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 12/20/2019 5:00:00 PM With the decennial headcount just about to start, Congress finally delivered full funding to the Census Bureau for Fiscal Year 2020. Read More
Latest Funding Resolution is a Win in the Bigger Census Funding Battle Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 11/26/2019 4:57:00 PM The latest Continuing Resolution funding the federal government contains increased funding for the 2020 Census, improving the odds of decennial preparations getting completed and setting the stage for the completion of full-year funding before the end of the year. Read More
SCOTUS Blocks Citizenship Question from 2020 Census Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 6/27/2019 4:52:00 PM The U.S. Supreme Court rejected the Department of Commerce's attempt to add a citizenship question to the decennial questionnaire in a 5-4 decision. With the deadline for printing questionnaires about to hit, the outcome is unclear. Read More
Determining the Fate of American Business for the Next Decade: Insights Association Testifies in Congress About 2020 Census Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 5/24/2019 10:15:00 AM As the Insights Association testified in a recent Congressional hearing, "the trickle-down impact of an inaccurate 2020 Census would restrain or ruin American businesses for a whole decade." Read More
Census Bureau Gets $1 Billion Increase in Final FY2019 Funding Law Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 2/15/2019 4:48:00 PM Congress sent President Trump legislation including $3.82 billion for all Census Bureau operations in Fiscal Year 2019, a billion dollar increase over FY18, as requested by the Insights Association. Read More
OMB Agrees Not to Rush Statistical Agency Reorganization Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 8/10/2018 3:19:00 PM The Office of Management and Budget’s Chief Statistician, Nancy Potok, recently assured the Insights Association that any government reorganization of statistical agencies involving the Census Bureau will not occur until after the 2020 Census, as we had requested. Read More
Delay Reorganization of Federal Statistical Agencies Until After the 2020 Census Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 6/27/2018 3:15:00 PM The White House's recent proposal to reorganize the federal government included a provision of intense interest to the marketing research and data analytics industry: the consolidation of the biggest federal statistical agencies. However, the Insights Association today urged the Trump Administration and Congress to delay any consolidation plans until after the 2020 Census. Read More
2016 GOP and Democrat Platforms Hit on Some MRA Issues and Miss on Others Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 7/29/2016 4:02:00 PM The major party campaign platforms for 2016 reflect some of the concerns of the survey, opinion and marketing research profession. Read More
An ACS Win, for Now: Congressional Committee Pulls Bill From Agenda Howard Fienberg Government Affairs 3/12/2014 4:41:00 PM MRA and our coalition allies convinced a House Committee not to bring up legislation that would hurt the American Community Survey (ACS) by making response voluntary. Read More