SLS 21RS-915 ORIGINAL
2021 Regular Session
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 33
BY SENATOR LUNEAU AND REPRESENTATI VE HARRIS
FEDERAL PROGRAMS. Requests the federal Office of Management and Budget to
maintain the current minimum population Standard for Delineating Metropolitan and
Micropolitan Statistical Areas.
1 A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
2 To urge and request the federal Office of Management and Budget to retain the 2010
3 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's)
4 with a minimum population of fifty thousand.
5 WHEREAS, the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review
6 Committee has recommended that the Office of Management and Budget of the United
7 States Government change the 2010 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and
8 Micropolitan Statistical Areas from a minimum population of fifty thousand to one hundred
9 thousand; and
10 WHEREAS, raising the minimum Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) population
11 cutoff from fifty thousand to one hundred thousand would remove the MSA designation
12 from Alexandria, Louisiana, and Hammond, Louisiana, as well as over one hundred forty
13 other cities across the United States; and
14 WHEREAS, raising the minimum population cutoff would undermine the
15 consistency in the collection and tabulation of federal statistics; and
16 WHEREAS, according to the federal General Accounting Office, raising the
17 minimum population for MSA's would likely result in a loss of eligibility for funding from
18 three dozen federal programs for communities needing it most, including Alexandria and
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SLS 21RS-915 ORIGINAL
1 Hammond; and
2 WHEREAS, interrupting the flow of funding from the federal Community
3 Development Block Grant program would be catastrophic to the poorest neighborhoods of
4 Alexandria and Hammond, impacting the ability to reduce blight, decrease lead hazards,
5 renovate dilapidated residences, and develop safer, affordable housing; and
6 WHEREAS, losing funding from federal rural development programs and eligibility
7 for certain grants to regional planning organizations to improve infrastructure would be
8 harmful to central and southeastern Louisiana, especially during the pandemic recovery
9 period; and
10 WHEREAS, losing eligibility for federal loans for broadband expansion in rural
11 areas would be particularly harmful for Alexandria, Hammond, and surrounding areas and
12 would impede economic growth; and
13 WHEREAS, a reduction of reimbursement from the federal Hospital Inpatient
14 Prospective Payment System would severely financially impact acute care hospitals and their
15 ability to serve the people of Alexandria and Hammond as well as people in multi-parish
16 areas surrounding these cities; and
17 WHEREAS, raising the minimum MSA population would do little to return the
18 population balance between metropolitan and micropolitan areas back to the even split that
19 existed when the MSA's were first conceived more than seventy years ago, but would create
20 unwarranted changes on the distribution of federal assistance; and
21 WHEREAS, maintaining consistency in the MSA program is also helpful for local
22 governments and businesses that depend on long-term trend data to better understand the
23 economies in these areas, providing the tools to easily compare changes in labor markets and
24 an area's economic conditions; and
25 WHEREAS, long term data sets are also helpful for local governments as they
26 implement policies to raise unemployment rates and administer aid during the economic
27 recovery; and
28 WHEREAS, it is particularly important to nurture pro-growth policies for businesses,
29 families, and communities as we collectively work on the economic recovery.
30 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
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SLS 21RS-915 ORIGINAL
1 urge and request the Office of Management and Budget of the United States Government to
2 reject the recommendation by the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards
3 Review Committee to change the 2010 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and
4 Micropolitan Statistical Areas from a minimum population of fifty thousand to one hundred
5 thousand.
6 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby urge
7 and request the Office of Management and Budget of the United States Government to retain
8 the current Standard for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas at a
9 minimum population of fifty thousand.
10 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
11 Robert S. Fairweather, Acting Director, Office of Management and Budget, and
12 Dominic Mancini, Deputy Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Jerry J. Guillot.
DIGEST
SCR 33 Original 2021 Regular Session Luneau
Requests the U.S. Office of Management and Budget to maintain the current Standard for
Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas at a minimum population of
50,000.
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