Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley are urging the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to reconsider proposed changes made by the Trump administration to the 2010 classifications of metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas that in Oregon would affect Albany, Bend, Corvallis and Grants Pass.
These classifications are tied to several housing and transportation programs and have important impacts on their respective cities and towns. The senators wrote that “this change could result in the loss of federal programming for many small- and mid-sized counties, cities and towns across the country.”
Albany, Bend, Corvallis and Grants Pass are among the 144 cities and towns across the country that will be affected by this recommendation.
The senators also note that the coronavirus pandemic has resulted in thousands of people temporarily leaving their home cities, with a 4 percent increase in address changes in 2020 compared to 2019. As a result, “population data based on the calendar years of 2020 or 2021 is likely to be misleading and inaccurate in predicting long-term trends about where Americans will choose to live.”
The letter was led by Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. In addition to Wyden and Merkley, the letter was signed by Senators Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., John Hoeven, R-N.D., Tina Smith, D-Minn., Patty Murray, D-Wash., Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., Angus King, I-Maine, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Bob Casey, D-Pa., Dick Durbin, D-Ill., Tim Kaine, D-Va., Ben Cardin, D-Md., Mark R. Warner, D-Va., Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., Jon Ossoff, D-Ga, and Joe Manchin D-W.V.
Full text of the letter is HERE.
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