I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1009

To authorize the awarding of grants to cities, counties, tribal organizations,

and certain other entities for the purpose of improving public participation in the 2000 decennial census.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MARCH 4, 1999

Mr. MILLER of Florida introduced the following bill; which was referred to

the Committee on Government Reform

A BILL

To authorize the awarding of grants to cities, counties, tribal

organizations, and certain other entities for the purpose

of improving public participation in the 2000 decennial

census.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘2000 Census Commu5 nity Participation Enhancement Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. PROGRAM AUTHORIZATION.

7 In order to improve public participation in the 2000

8 census, the Secretary may, in accordance with the provi-
2

•HR 1009 IH

1 sions of this Act, provide for grants to be made to units

2 of general local government, tribal organizations, and pub3 lic or private nonprofit organizations.

4 SEC. 3. APPLICATIONS.

5 (a) APPLICATIONS REQUIRED.—Each entity referred

6 to in section 2 that wishes to receive a grant under this

7 Act shall submit an application at such time, in such form,

8 and complete with such information as the Secretary shall

9 by regulation require, except that any such application

10 shall include at least—

11 (1) a statement of the objectives for which the

12 grant is sought; and

13 (2) a description of the types of programs and

14 activities for which the grant is sought.

15 (b) NOTICE OF APPROVAL OR DISAPPROVAL.—Each

16 entity submitting an application under subsection (a)

17 shall, not later than 60 days after the date of its submis18 sion, be notified in writing as to whether such application

19 is approved or disapproved.

20 SEC. 4. MATCHING REQUIREMENT.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—A grant may not be made to an

22 entity under this Act unless such entity agrees, with re23 spect to the costs to be incurred by such entity in carrying

24 out the programs and activities for which the grant is

25 made, to make available non-Federal contributions in an
3

•HR 1009 IH

1 amount equal to not less than 50 percent of the Federal

2 funds provided under the grant.

3 (b) NON-FEDERAL CONTRIBUTIONS.—An entity re4 ceiving a grant under this Act may meet the requirement

5 under subsection (a) through—

6 (1) the use of amounts from non-Federal

7 sources; or

8 (2) in-kind contributions, fairly evaluated, but

9 only if and to the extent allowable under section 7.

10 SEC. 5. ALLOCATION.

11 The Secretary shall allocate the amounts appro12 priated to carry out this Act equally among the respective

13 centers and offices referred to in section 7.

14 SEC. 6. USE OF GRANT FUNDS.

15 A grant made under this Act may be used only for

16 one or more of the following:

17 (1) To train volunteers to assist individuals to

18 complete and return census questionnaires.

19 (2) To educate the public about the importance

20 of participating in the 2000 census.

21 (3) To educate the public about the confiden22 tiality that will be accorded to information collected

23 in the 2000 census.

24 (4) To recruit candidates to apply for census

25 office and field enumerator positions.
4

•HR 1009 IH

1 (5) To sponsor community events to promote

2 the 2000 census.

3 (6) To produce community-tailored promotional

4 materials.

5 (7) To rent space to provide any of the training

6 described in this subsection.

7 SEC. 7. REGULATIONS.

8 Any regulations to carry out this Act shall be pre9 scribed not later than 60 days after the date of enactment

10 of this Act. The regulations shall include—

11 (1) provisions requiring that any application for

12 a grant under this Act be submitted to the appro13 priate regional center or area office of the Bureau

14 of the Census, as identified under the regulations;

15 and

16 (2) provisions under which the decision to ap17 prove or disapprove any such application shall be

18 made by the head of the appropriate center or office

19 (referred to in paragraph (1)), in accordance with

20 guidelines set forth in the regulations.

21 SEC. 8. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

22 For purposes of carrying out this Act, there are au23 thorized to be appropriated $26,000,000 for fiscal year

24 2000.
5

•HR 1009 IH

1 SEC. 9. DEFINITIONS.

2 For purposes of this Act—

3 (1) the term ‘‘2000 census’’ means the 2000

4 decennial census of population;

5 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

6 of Commerce;

7 (3) the term ‘‘unit of general local government’’

8 means a city, county, town, township, parish, village,

9 or other general purpose political subdivision of a

10 State, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands,

11 Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana

12 Islands, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, or such

13 other possession or area referred to in section 191

14 of title 13, United States Code, as the Secretary

15 considers appropriate; and

16 (4) the term ‘‘tribal organization’’ has the

17 meaning given such term by section 4 of the Indian

18 Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act

19 (25 U.S.C. 450b).

Æ