Letter to Hon. Rob Fairweather, Director of Office of Management and Budget - Sens. Cramer Joins Effort to Protect North Dakota Cities' Access to Important Federal Programs

Letter

Dear Acting Director Fairweather:
On January 19, 2021, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) published a notice and a
request for public comment on multiple recommendations from the Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review Committee (the Committee)1
. We write in
response to this notice and to highlight a pressing concern with one of the Committee's
recommendations.
As you well know, OMB periodically reviews its criteria used to delineate Census Bureau data
and determine the standards of categorizing metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs). These
standards were last updated in 2010 and, according to the public notice, OMB directed the
Committee to again review these MSA standards and develop recommendations. Of the six
recommendations developed by the Committee, the recommendation to increase the urban area
population needed to qualify as an MSA from 50,000 to 100,000 is of immediate and upmost
concern.
Though these MSA standards and other Census Bureau data being deliberated as part of these
recommendations are intended to affect OMB's statistical and data collection activities, the
recommendations would also affect eligibility for certain federal programs and grant
opportunities. If the recommendation to increase the required urbanized area population from
50,000 to 100,000 is accepted and the MSA classification is revoked, 144 communities
nationwide could lose eligibility for certain federal programs2
.
As OMB continues to consider the Committee's recommendations and review the public
comments on this notice, we strongly encourage you to reject any increase in the minimum
urbanized area population needed to qualify as an MSA. Adhering to this recommendation has
the potential to harm communities across the nation, which we hope you take into account while
considering these recommendations.

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