“Data gaps make it challenging to efficiently plan and implement policy. Inaccurate or unavailable data increases the risk of government waste. It also creates barriers for local communities from accessing critical federal programs and opportunities. Quality and robust data, on the other hand, enables policymakers and the government to carry out targeted programs and ensure that laws are carried out in the manner they were intended. Furthermore, it ensures that the local communities are represented when assessing the distribution of federal resources.”
-US House Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs Chair Harriet Hageman (R) of Wyoming
On June 14, the United States House Committee on Natural Resources held its first hearing on statistical inequity in the US territories of Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa, and the United States Virgin Islands (USVI). The oversight hearing addressed significant discrepancies in data collection across the territories, held after the release of a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on data gaps predominant in numerous statistical product reports. The report called for a coordinated approach from the federal government in partnership with the territories to create an open dialogue to address the data gaps in the territories. Latesha Love-Grayer, a GAO representative at the hearing, said “Our recommendation is that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) pull in all of these stakeholders so we can have a constructive conversation about their needs and how best to address them.”
A lack of precise information often leads to underfunding and underrepresentation, jeopardizing the quality of life in the territories. Representative Teresa Leger Fernandez (D) of New Mexico cited the area census of Guam, which lacks reportable data for smaller communities. Consequently, these communities become excluded from tools such as the Social Vulnerability Index, which assesses groups that require monetary assistance, namely emergency preparedness funding for natural disasters. In her statement, Fernandez said, “Incomplete and inaccurate population, economic, labor force, and agricultural data leads to underfunding and underrepresentation of the territories in certain federal programs.”
GAO also attributed the data gaps to a lack of federal resources for data collection. Although federal agencies must collect roughly similar amounts of population data from US states and territories to make accurate projections regarding products and services, the cost per capita rises in the territories. While the population size in the states and territories is roughly the same, more significant percentages of the relative population must be tested in the territories, leading to a more considerable cost per person. This problem causes many federal agencies to rely on a smaller amount of relative population data, thus reducing the accuracy of their predictions. The issue of the high cost per person was met with discontent, especially by Delegate Gregorio Kilili Camacho Sablan (D) of CNMI, who later released a report writing, “I questioned witnesses from GAO and the Office on Insular Affairs on why reliable data is unavailable and got very little answer than cost.”
The issue of high costs was met with a similar response by Guam Delegate James Moylan (R), who echoed the sentiment of urgency in the room, saying, “We need to be included in these things. You need more money, then talk to the administration and get yourself more money to support the territories. We are really important, we must get this done.”
The GAO recommendation included specific recommendations for the Chief Statistician in the Office of Management and Budget, Karin Orvis, to formulate a better approach to address these data gaps within the territories. However, Mrs. Orvis was absent from the hearing, spurring Representative Harriet Hageman (R) of Wyoming to remark, “I am deeply troubled that the Office of Management and Budget lacked the capacity to prepare for this hearing […] It is my sincere hope that their absence from this hearing does not reflect a lack of interest in this critical issue.”
Many of the officials who testified at the hearing are hopeful that issues of statistical inequity may be overcome in the territories. A coordinated federal approach to collecting data from all territories would improve the accuracy of statistical reports and the quality of life for residents in the territories. Love-Grayer, speaking on the possibility of a new approach, said, “[D]oing so would improve the information that is available to decision-makers at all levels of government and would allow for us to make better decisions about the allocation of those resources and to evaluate the effectiveness of our programs.”
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