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Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report (2001)

Chapter: Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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Appendix A

Workshop Agenda and Participants

WORKSHOP ON FORMULAS FOR ALLOCATING PROGRAM FUNDS

Wednesday, April 26, 2000, Green Building, Room 104

8:30

Continental Breakfast

9:00–9:15

Welcome and Opening Remarks

Andrew White, Director, Committee on National Statistics

Tom Louis, Workshop Chair, University of Minnesota

9:15–10:45

SESSION I, Introduction and Workshop Overview

The purpose of this session is to provide the workshop participants, who come from a variety of government and academic venues, with an overview of the manner in which federal program funds are allocated to jurisdictions based on statistical formulas. This session will address the background of formula allocation, types of programs covered, trends in amounts of funds allocated, current distribution of funds across departments, data sources, and previous studies of statistical features of formulas.

Presenter: Wray Smith, The Harris Smith Institutes

9:15-9:45

Discussant: Jerry Fastrup, U.S. General Accounting Office

9:45-10:00

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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Page 76

Discussant: David McMillen, U.S. House Government Reform and Oversight Committee

10:00-10:15

Discussant: Martin H. David, University of Wisconsin

10:15-10:30

Floor Discussion

10:30-10:45

10:45–11:00

Break

11:00–12:30

SESSION II, Title I Case Study

This session will provide an overview of the Title I Education funding formula. The impact of updated census data on allocations to school districts will be examined, and issues the Education Department faced in using new data to allocate Title I funds to school districts will be addressed.

Presenter: Sandy Brown, U.S. Department of Education

11:00-11:25

Presenter: Graham Kalton, Westat

11:25-11:50

Discussant: Bruce D. Spencer, Northwestern University

11:50-12:10

Floor Discussion

12:10-12:30

12:30–1:30

Lunch

1:30–3:00

SESSION III, Features and Consequences of Formula Allocation

This session will explore some of the consequences for federal formula allocation when particular features, such as thresholds and hold harmless, are present in the formula. In particular, the effect on allocations of changes in measurement systems, such as changes in precision and frequency, in the presence of these features will be examined.

Presenter: Alan Zaslavsky, Harvard University

1:30-1:55

Presenter: David Betson, University of Notre Dame

1:55-2:20

Discussant: Paul Siegel, U. S. Census Bureau

2:20-2:30

Discussant: Robin C. Fisher, U.S. Census Bureau

2:30-2:40

Floor Discussion

2:40-3:00

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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Page 77

3:00–3:15

Break

3:15–4:45

SESSION IV, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Formula Block Grants

This session will outline the intention, as stated by Congress, of the substance abuse and mental health services block grant formula allocation. Alternative measures for the formula elements will be presented. Comparisons between the current formula measures and alternative measures will be discussed.

Presenter: Albert Woodward, Office of Applied Studies, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

3:15-3:40

Presenter: John Adams, RAND

3:40-4:05

Discussant: Jane Maxwell, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse

4:05-4:25

Floor Discussion

4:25-4:45

4:45–5:00

General Discussion

5:15

Reception

6:30

Dinner

Thursday, April 27, 2000, Green Building, Room 130

8:30

Continental Breakfast

9:00–10:30

SESSION V, WIC, Fund Allocation and Small Area Estimation in the WIC Program

This session will provide an overview of the WIC formula, changes in estimate of WIC eligibles, the current method to produce these estimates, and goals for future estimates.

Overview of WIC: Ronald Vogel, Special Nutrition Programs, U.S. Department of Agriculture

9:00-9:25

Presenter: Allen L. Schirm, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

9:25-9:50

Discussant: David Betson, University of Notre Dame

9:50-10:10

Floor Discussion

10:10-10:30

10:30–10:45

Break

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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Page 78

10:45–12:00

SESSION VI, Roundtable Discussion

The panel members will be state officials, representatives from federal statistical agencies, and researchers of formula allocation. The discussion should be oriented toward the future of available data and estimates for formula allocation. What issues should be taken into consideration for future data, estimated inputs, and features of formula allocation?

Panel Members: (15 min. each followed by 15 min. of discussion)

Paula J. Schneider, Principal Associate Director for Programs, U.S. Census Bureau

Linda Gage, California Department of Finance

Katherine K. Wallman, Chief Statistician, U.S. Office of Management and Budget

John E. Rolph, Chair of the Committee on National Statistics, University of Southern California

  • Are there problems with the quality and timeliness of available data?

  • Are there features of new and future datasets that are particularly relevant to issues of formula allocation, such as timeliness and level of aggregation?

  • Do you think that the estimates used in formulas or the features of formulas have unintended consequences with respect to equity between jurisdictions? If so, what changes might resolve such problems?

  • Do you have any suggestions for changing formulas, data, and estimation procedures?

  • What issues could be usefully addressed by the Committee on National Statistics in a study of statistical and data needs for allocation formulas?

  • 12:00–12:30

    Concluding Remarks

    Henry Aaron, Brookings Institution

    12:30

    Lunch

    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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    Page 79

    PARTICIPANTS

    Presenters

    Henry Aaron, Brookings Institution, Washington, DC

    John Adams, RAND, Santa Monica, CA

    David Betson, Department of Economics, University of Notre Dame

    Sandy Brown, U.S. Department of Education

    Martin David, University of Wisconsin

    Jerry Fastrup, U.S. General Accounting Office

    Robin Fisher, U.S. Census Bureau

    Linda Gage, California Department of Finance

    Graham Kalton, Westat, Rockville, MD

    Thomas Louis, RAND, Alexandria, VA

    David McMillen, U.S. House of Representatives

    Jane Maxwell, Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse

    John Rolph, Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California

    Allen Schirm, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

    Paula Schneider, U.S. Census Bureau

    Paul Siegel, U.S. Census Bureau

    Wray Smith, The Harris Smith Institutes

    Bruce Spencer, Department of Statistics, Northwestern University

    Ronald Vogel, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Katherine Wallman, U.S. Office of Management and Budget

    Albert Woodward, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    Alan Zaslavsky, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard University

    Invited Guests

    Craig Abbey, Congressional Research Service

    Chip Alexander, U.S. Census Bureau

    Todd Barrett, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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    Page 80

    William Bell, U.S. Census Bureau

    Ken Bryson, U.S. Census Bureau

    Lynda Carlson, National Science Foundation

    Cheryl Chambers, U.S. Census Bureau

    Stephen Cohen, Bureau of Labor Statistics

    Paulette Como, Congressional Research Service

    Mike Compson, U.S. Treasury Department

    Thomas Corwin, U.S. Department of Education

    Robert Dinkelmeyer, U.S. General Accounting Office

    John Eltinge, Bureau of Labor Statistics

    Deborah Fulcher, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    Linda Ghelfi, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    John Guyton, PricewaterhouseCoopers

    Stefan Harvey, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

    Daniel Kasprzyk, National Center for Education Statistics

    Jerry Keffer, U.S. Census Bureau

    Victoria Lazariu-Bauer, New York State Department of Health

    Bette Mahoney, The Harris Smith Institutes

    Don Malec, U.S. Census Bureau

    Marge Martin, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

    Marge Miller, Congressional Budget Office

    Albert Parker, Synectics for Management Decisions, Inc.

    Jeff Passel, Urban Institute

    Ken Prewitt, U.S. Census Bureau

    Charles Roberts, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration

    Susan Schechter, U.S. Office of Management and Budget

    Kathleen Scholl, U.S. General Accounting Office

    Susan Sieg Tompkins, Congressional Budget Office

    Marjorie Siegel, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

    Tom Slomba, U.S. General Accounting Office

    Ian Soper, U.S. Department of Education

    William Sonnenberg, National Center for Education Statistics

    Paul Strasborg, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Doug Williams, National Center for Health Statistics

    Michael Williams, U.S. General Accounting Office

    Josh Winicki, U.S. Department of Agriculture

    Peyton Young, Johns Hopkins University

    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
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    Page 81

    Committee on National Statistics Staff

    Andrew White, Director

    Heather Koball, Study Director

    Connie Citro, Study Director

    Shelly Ver Ploeg, Study Director

    Thomas B. Jabine, Consultant

    Jamie Casey, Senior Project Assistant

    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×

    Page 82

    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 75
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 76
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 77
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 78
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 79
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 80
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 81
    Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Workshop Agenda and Participants." National Research Council. 2001. Choosing the Right Formula: Initial Report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/10178.
    ×
    Page 82
    Next: Appendix B: Biographical Sketches of Panel Members and Staff »
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    The workshop was a direct outgrowth of a previous study by the CNSTAT Panel on Estimates of Poverty for Small Geographic Areas. That panel, established under a 1994 act of Congress, began its work with a very specific mission: to evaluate the suitability of the U.S. Census Bureau's small-area estimates of poor school-age children for use in the allocation of funds to counties and school districts under Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.

    In carrying out their assignment, panel members came to realize that the properties of data sources and statistical procedures used to produce formula estimates, interacting with formula features such as thresholds and hold-harmless provisions, can produce consequences that may not have been anticipated or intended. It also became evident that there is a trade-off between the goals of providing a reasonable amount of stability in funding from one year to the next and redirecting funds to different jurisdictions as true needs change. In one instance, for example, the annual appropriation included a 100 percent hold-harmless provision, ensuring that no recipient would receive less than the year before. However, there was no increase in the total appropriation, with the result that new estimates showing changes in the distribution of program needs across areas had no effect on the allocations.

    Choosing the Right Formula provides an account of the presentations and discussions at the workshop. The first three chapters cover the overview, case studies, and methodological sessions, respectively. Chapter 4 summarizes the issues discussed in the roundtable and concluding sessions, with emphasis on the identification of questions that might be addressed in a panel study.

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