The Western Governors’ Association alerted the Office of Management and Budget that a proposed modification in its notice, Recommendations From the Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Area Standards Review Committee Concerning Changes to the 2010 Standards for Delineating Metropolitan and Micropolitan Statistical Areas, "could disrupt the availability and quality of economic data at the substate level." In the outreach of March 19, 2021 signed by Executive Director Jim Ogsbury, WGA asserts that the modification raising the minimum urban area population for metropolitan statistical areas from 50,000 to 100,000, "would lead to the reclassification of dozens of MSAs in the western United States as micropolitan statistical areas." The Governors add: "Although the OMB classification of metropolitan statistical areas is intended solely for statistical purposes, many federal programs use the OMB classification for funding formulas and eligibility criteria." Read, download comments