Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB Review; Comment Request; State and Local Government Finance and Public Employment and Payroll Forms, 20240-20242 [2020-07590]

Agencies

• Census Bureau
• DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 70 (Friday, April 10, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20240-20242]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-07590]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

 Census Bureau


Agency Information Collection Activities; Submission for OMB 
Review; Comment Request; State and Local Government Finance and Public 
Employment and Payroll Forms

    The Department of Commerce will submit to the Office of Management 
and Budget (OMB) for clearance the following proposal for collection of 
information under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Agency: U.S. Census Bureau.
    Title: State and Local Government Finance and Public Employment and 
Payroll Forms.
    OMB Control Number: 0607-0585.
    Form Number(s): E-1, E-2, E-3, E-4, E-5, E-6, E-7, E-8, E-9, E-10, 
F-5, F-11, F-12, F-13, F-28, F-29, F-32.
    Type of Request: Revision of a currently approved collection.
    Number of Respondents: 73,508.
    Average Hours per Response: 1.69 hours.
    Burden Hours: 123,999.
    Needs and Uses: The Census of Governments--Finance and its related 
Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances are comprised of 
the Annual Survey of State Government Finances, Annual Survey of Local 
Government Finances, Annual Survey of State Tax Collections and Annual 
Survey of Public Pensions. These surveys collect data on state 
government finances; estimates of local government revenue, 
expenditure, debt, and assets; and pension systems nationally and 
within state areas. The Census of Governments--Employment and

[[Page 20241]]

Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll collect state and local 
government data on full-time and part-time employment, and payroll 
statistics by governmental function. The Census Bureau implements these 
programs through a full census every five years (years ending in `2' 
and `7'), every five years since 1957, and the annual sample of state 
and local governments in the intervening years, with a new sample 
selected every five years (years ending in `4' and `9'). Content on the 
census and annual surveys is the same, the only difference is the 
number of governmental units selected. This clearance and all future 
clearances will combine all Census of Governments programs and their 
related Annual programs, which were previously submitted separately.
    The Census Bureau is requesting approval to conduct the 2020 and 
2021 Annual Surveys of State and Local Government Finances, Annual 
Survey of Public Employment and Payroll and the 2022 Census of 
Governments--Finance and Employment. These programs are the only 
comprehensive source of state and local government finance, employment, 
and payroll data collected on a nationwide scale using uniform 
definitions, concepts, and procedures. Data are collected for all 
agencies, departments, and school districts, institutions of the fifty 
state and approximate 90,000 local governments (counties, 
municipalities, townships, and special districts) during the census 
years, and for a sample of the local governments (approximately 11,000) 
for the survey years.
    An additional 13,000 units of school districts for local government 
finance are covered in a separate request.
    The programs covered by this request have moved towards eliminating 
collection by paper form as much as, and when possible. Throughout this 
submission, the word ``form'' refers to the digital version of the form 
accessed by respondents using our online collection instrument rather 
than a paper form. The only exception to this is the F-13 form, which 
is sent via email with a fillable PDF because the small number (50) of 
respondents did not justify the cost of converting it to an electronic 
form. Below is a short description of the forms utilized for data 
collection. Each form is tailored to the unique characteristics of the 
type and size of government or government agency to be surveyed. The E 
series of forms are used in the Public Employment and Payroll 
collection and the F series of forms are used in the State and Local 
Government Finance collection:
    E-1 State Agencies--State agencies, excluding state colleges and 
universities.
    E-2 State Institutions of Higher Education--State institutions of 
higher education colleges and universities.
    E-3 Special Districts and Local Agencies--Dependent agencies of 
local governments and single function special district governments.
    E-4 Municipalities, Counties, Townships--County governments, 
municipalities, and township governments with a population of 1,000 or 
more.
    E-5 Municipalities and Townships--Shortened version of the E-4 form 
for municipalities and townships with a population of <1,000.
    E-6 School Systems--Local government operated institutions of 
education, elementary & secondary education and/or college & other 
postsecondary education.
    E-7 Major Special Districts and Agencies--Multifunction dependent 
agencies and fire protection agencies for local governments, and 
multifunction special district governments.
    E-8 Elementary and Secondary Education--Local government operated 
institutions of elementary and secondary education.
    E-9 Police Protection Agencies--State and local government police 
protection agencies.
    E-10 College and Other Postsecondary Education--Local government 
operated institutions of higher education.
    F-5 State governments provide detailed data on their tax 
collections using a spreadsheet that they receive via email and that 
includes the OMB approval number, authority and confidentiality 
statements, and burden estimate.
    F-11, F-12 State and local government pension systems provide data 
via electronic collection instrument on their receipts, payments, 
assets, membership, and beneficiaries.
    F-13 State agencies provide data not included in the audits, 
electronic files and other primary sources the Census Bureau uses to 
compile state government financial data via a fillable PDF that they 
receive via email that includes the OMB approval number, authority and 
confidentiality statements. Form F-13 is used to collect data from 
state insurance trust systems.
    F-28 Counties, cities, and townships provide data via electronic 
collection instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt, and assets.
    F-29 Multi-function special district governments provide data via 
electronic collection instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt, and 
assets.
    F-32 Single-function special district governments and dependent 
agencies of local governments provide data via electronic collection 
instrument on revenues, expenditures, debt and assets.
    In addition to the above collection methods, the Census Bureau also 
collects electronic data files through arrangements with state 
governments, central collection arrangements with local governments, 
and using customized electronic reporting instruments.
    The Census of Governments-Finance and its related Annual Surveys of 
State and Local Government Finances, provide data on state government 
finances and estimates of local government revenue, expenditure, debt, 
assets, and pension systems nationally and within state areas. The 
Census of Governments- Employment and Annual Survey of Public 
Employment and Payroll provide data on state and local government 
employment and payroll in the United States. Census Bureau staff apply 
a standard set of criteria while classifying government activity in 
order to provide a complete and uniform set of data on the finance and 
employment activities of governments in the United States.
    These data are widely used by Federal, state, and local 
legislators, policy makers, analysts, economists, and researchers to 
follow the changing characteristics of the government sector of the 
economy. The data are also widely used by the media and academia.
    Statistics compiled from data gathered using these forms are used 
in several important Federal government programs. Economists at the 
Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) use these statistics for developing 
the National Income and Product Accounts. According to the Chief 
Economist of BEA, BEA uses the information from these surveys to 
prepare the national income and product accounts (NIPA), regional 
accounts, and industry accounts. The data obtained from these forms are 
critical to BEA for maintaining reliable estimates. Specifically, BEA 
uses national, state, local, and type-of-government aggregate data by 
function for full-time and part-time employees, and payroll to prepare 
estimates of functional payrolls for the public sector of the gross 
domestic product (GDP) as well as to derive state-level estimates of 
the employment and wages and salaries of students and their spouses who 
are employed by public institutions of higher education in which the 
students are enrolled. There is no other national

[[Page 20242]]

or state source for information on student workers at state 
institutions of higher education. The Federal Reserve Board use these 
finance data for constructing the Flow of Funds Accounts.
    Additionally, the state and local government finance data are also 
needed as inputs into the Criminal Justice Expenditure and Employment 
Extract Series (CJEE), produced by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 
and the National Health Expenditure Accounts produced by the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The data are also published 
annually in the Digest of Education Statistics produced by National 
Center for Education Statistics, the Economic Report of the President 
produced by the Council of Economic Advisors, and the source data are 
used as input into the State and Local Governments Fiscal Outlook 
published by the Government Accountability Office. In addition, the 
data are used by the National Science Foundation as inputs into the 
State government R&D expenditures.
    Public interest groups of many types produce analyses of public 
sector activities using these data in addition to user organizations 
representing state and local government include the Council of State 
Governments, the National Conference of State Legislatures, Government 
Research Association, U.S. Conference of Mayors, National Association 
of Counties, National League of Cities, and the National Association of 
Towns and Townships. Other data users such as the National School 
Boards Association and the National Sheriffs Association also use these 
data for more specific analyses of government activities.
    State and local government financial information has continued to 
garner significant media attention and policy coverage as they provide 
insight into the complex nature and fiscal health of state and local 
government finances.
    Affected Public: State & local governments.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Respondent's Obligation: Voluntary.
    Legal Authority: Title 13, Section 161, of the United States Code 
requires the Secretary of Commerce to conduct a census of governments 
every fifth year. Section 182 allows the Secretary of Commerce to 
conduct annual surveys in other years.
    This information collection request may be viewed at 
www.reginfo.gov. Follow the instructions to view Department of Commerce 
collections currently under review by OMB.
    Written comments and recommendations for the proposed information 
collection should be submitted within 30 days of the publication of 
this notice on the following website www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. 
Find this particular information collection by selecting ``Currently 
under 30-day Review--Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search 
function and entering either the title of the collection or the OMB 
Control Number 0607-0585.

Sheleen Dumas,
Department PRA Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief Information 
Officer, Commerce Department.
[FR Doc. 2020-07590 Filed 4-9-20; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-07-P