News release: “The U.S. Census Bureau today submitted to Congress its proposed recovery plan to create jobs, strengthen the economy and conduct a successful 2010 Census. Under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Census Bureau was provided $1 billion….Under the proposal, the Census Bureau will invest $250 million in partnership and outreach efforts to minority communities and hard-to-reach populations. This effort is intended to promote participation in the census, which will improve accuracy and facilitate enumeration operations in 2010. The remaining $750 million will be committed to support early 2010 Census operations that will reduce operational and programmatic risks at a critical stage of the census process. More than $300 billion in federal funds are distributed every year based on census results. This funding supports vital local services like health care, schools, law enforcement, transportation and social services.