Detailed Instructions: In this task, you are given text for US Congressional and California state bills, your task is to generate a summary for this bill.
Problem:SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ''Decennial Census Improvement Act of
1996''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

(a) Findings.--The Congress finds that--
(1) the Constitution requires that the number of persons in
the Nation be enumerated every 10 years in order to permit the
apportionment of Representatives among the several States;
(2) information collected through a decennial census is
also used to determine--
(A) the boundaries of congressional districts
within States;
(B) the boundaries of the districts for the
legislature of each State and the boundaries of other
political subdivisions within the States; and
(C) the allocation of billions of dollars of
Federal and State funds;
(3) the Constitution requires that those enumerations be
made in such manner as the Congress ''shall by law direct'';
(4) in the 1990 decennial census, the Bureau of the Census
used a combination of mail questionnaires and personal
interviews, involving more than 350,000 enumerators, to collect
the census data;
(5) while the census cannot count everyone, the extent of
the undercount varies by race and geography; for example, the
Bureau estimates that the 1990 decennial census failed to count
5.7 percent of blacks and 1.3 percent of all others;
(6) a number of lawsuits were filed challenging the
accuracy of the 1990 decennial census, and in March 1996 the
Supreme Court unanimously upheld the Secretary of Commerce's
decision in July 1991 not to adjust the initial enumeration in
the 1990 decennial census by using a postenumeration
statistical survey;
(7) on February 28, 1996, the Bureau announced that, for
the 2000 decennial census, it plans to use a combination of
mail questionnaires and personal interviews in each county
until it has collected data from 90 percent of the households
in the county, whereupon it would conduct interviews with
respect to one-tenth of the remaining households in the county
and use the information obtained from those interviews to make
estimates with respect to the remaining nonresponding
households;
(8) certain witnesses testified, at a hearing held by the
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight of the House of
Representatives on February 29, 1996, that the Bureau's
proposed sampling technique may increase the disparity in the
undercount among either geographic areas (such as between rural
and urban areas) or racial or ethnic groups (such as with
respect to African Americans and Hispanic Americans, as
compared to other groups);
(9) the planning, conduct, and analysis of a decennial
census often requires close to a period of 10 years;
(10) the Bureau estimates that the proposed sampling
technique will cost about $500 million less, over that period
of time, than the $4.4 billion that it estimates would be spent
over that same period if the method used in the 1990 decennial
census were to be used (instead of such sampling technique) in
the 2000 decennial census; and
(11) the Chairman of the Panel on Census Requirements in
the Year 2000 and Beyond of the National Academy of Sciences
testified at the February 29th hearing that there is a trade-
off between cost savings associated with using a sampling
technique on the one hand, and adverse effects with respect to
sampling variability, public perception, and political
consequences, on the other.
(b) Purposes.--It is the purpose of this Act to promote the
accuracy of the 2000 decennial census, and public confidence with
respect to the data obtained therefrom.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS.

The 2000 decennial census shall be conducted in accordance with the
following:
(1) Direct contact must be attempted.--The Bureau shall
attempt to contact every household directly (whether by mail or
in person), and may use sampling as a substitute for direct
contact in a particular census tract only after direct contact
has been made with at least 90 percent of the households in
such tract.
(2) Greater use of non-federal resources.--The Bureau--
(A) shall seek to make more effective use of State
and local government offices, as well as appropriate
local groups, in order to reduce the undercount; and
(B) shall include, as part of its report under
section 141(f) of title 13, United States Code, next
due after the date of the enactment of this Act, a
description of the measures it intends to pursue to
carry out subparagraph (A).

SEC. 4. MEASURES TO FACILITATE THE RECRUITMENT OF TEMPORARY EMPLOYEES.

(a) Exemption From Provisions Relating to Reemployed Annuitants and
Former Members of the Uniformed Services.--Public Law 101-86 (13 U.S.C.
23 note) is amended--
(1) in section 1(b) and the long title by striking ''the
1990 decennial census'' and inserting ''the 2000 decennial
census''; and
(2) in section 4 by striking ''December 31, 1990.'' and
inserting ''December 31, 2000.''.
(b) Purposes for Which Compensation Shall Not Be Taken Into
Account.--Compensation for services performed by an individual
appointed to a temporary position in or under the Bureau for purposes
relating to the 2000 decennial census (if the position is so designated
by the Bureau, in writing, at the time of such individual's
appointment) shall not be taken into account for purposes of any of the
following:
(1) Any State program funded under part A of title IV of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 601 et seq.).
(2) Medical assistance provided pursuant to title XIX of
the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396 et seq.).
(3) The Food stamp program, within the meaning of section
3(h) of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (42 U.S.C. 2012(h)).
(4) Any program for housing assistance administered by the
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development or the Secretary of
Agriculture.
(5) Assistance under--
(A) the school breakfast program under section 4 of
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773); or
(B) the school lunch program under the National
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.).
(6) Assistance under the special supplemental nutrition
program for women, infants, and children under section 17 of
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1786).
(7) Assistance under title II of the Job Training
Partnership Act (29 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
(8) Any Head Start program under the Head Start Act (42
U.S.C. 9831 et seq.).
(9) Assistance provided pursuant to the Low-Income Home
Energy Assistance Act of 1981 (42 U.S.C. 8621 et seq.).

SEC. 5. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this Act--
(1) the term ''census'' means a census of population within
the meaning of section 141(g) of title 13, United States Code;
(2) the term ''Bureau'' means the Bureau of the Census; and
(3) the term ''census tract'' means a statistical
subdivision as defined by the Bureau for purposes of the 1990
decennial census.
Solution:
Decennial Census Improvement Act of 1996 - Requires the Bureau of the Census, in conducting the 2000 decennial census, to: (1) attempt to contact every household directly, whether by mail or in person (and allows the use of sampling as a substitute for direct contact in a particular census tract only after direct contact has been made with at least 90 percent of the households in such tract); and (2) seek to make more effective use of State and local government offices and appropriate local groups to reduce the undercount and include in a specified report a description of the measures it intends to carry out such requirement.
Modifies Federal law regarding exemptions for reemployed annuitants and former uniformed service members to make such law: (1) applicable to service in any temporary position within the Bureau established for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census; and (2) inapplicable to any service performed after December 31, 2000.
Prohibits taking into account compensation for services performed by an individual appointed to a temporary position in or under the Bureau for purposes relating to the 2000 decennial census (if the position is so designated by the Bureau, in writing, at the time of such individual's appointment) for purposes of: (1) State programs for aid and services to needy families with children and for child- welfare services, and for certain medical assistance, under the Social Security Act; (2) the Food Stamp program; (3) certain programs for housing assistance; (4) specified assistance under the school breakfast and lunch programs, the special supplemental nutrition program for women, infants, and children, and the Job Training Partnership Act; (5) any Head Start program; and (6) assistance pursuant to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981.