For many purposes, 2010 lies a long way off, but the task of preparing for a major national census is not one of those secondary issues.

The decennial headcount taken by the U.S. Census Bureau is an essential source of information, capturing our characteristics as a country and defining the needs that government will have to meet.

On that score, few can disagree, despite other political differences that divide our leaders in Washington, D.C. So it's clear that the census can't become collateral damage in the standoff over more confrontational matters.

Those concerns have forced the need for an emergency spending authorization — due tomorrow — to keep the government running at current levels. What the bill lacks is sufficient funding to enable planning and rehearsal operations critical to producing an accurate count in 2010.

One of the sites for the bureau's "dry run" is San Joaquin County, where census workers have begun verifying the locations of dormitories, rest homes and other group housing centers that are easily overlooked.

The tools enabling proper record-keeping and counts include hand-held computers with Global Positioning System coordinates.

Such hardware issues may seem unimportant. But, in fact, the equipment enables accuracy, and an accurate census is indispensable.

Currently, there's no money for the proper equipment to continue the work in San Joaquin County and other practice locations.

Without sufficient funding, the census is almost certain to become an indifferent sketch of our population, and thus a crude tool for the decision-making tasks ahead. The questions that need answering include: Where are the populations that need government services, what kinds of services are needed and how much do they need?

Congress and the Bush administration must collaborate to see that the money is in place to do this job right.