[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 79 (Tuesday, April 25, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 20283-20287]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-10152]
[[Page 20283]]
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Job Training Partnership Act and Targeted Jobs Tax Credit; Lower
Living Standard Income Level
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of determination of lower living standard income level.
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SUMMARY: The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) provides that the term
``economically disadvantaged'' may be defined as 70 percent of the
``lower living standard income level'' (LLSIL). To provide the most
accurate data possible, the Department of Labor is issuing revised
figures for the LLSIL. The Internal Revenue Code also provides that the
term ``economically disadvantaged'' may be defined as 70 percent of the
LLSIL for purposes of the Targeted Jobs Tax Credit (TJTC).
EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on April 25, 1995.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Ms. Diane Mayronne, Office of
Employment and Training Programs, Employment and Training
Administration, Department of Labor, Room N-4463, 200 Constitution
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Ms. Diane Mayronne, Telephone: 202-219-5305 (this is not a toll free
number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA) ``to afford job training to those economically
disadvantaged individuals * * * who are in special need of such
training to obtain productive employment.'' JTPA Section 2; see 20 CFR
626.1 and 626.3(b). JTPA Section 4(8) defines, for the purposes of JTPA
eligibility, the term ``economically disadvantaged'' in part by
reference to the ``lower living standard income level'' (LLSIL). See 20
CFR 626.5.
The LLSIL figures published in this notice shall be used to
determine whether an individual is economically disadvantaged for
applicable JTPA purposes. JTPA Section 4(16) defines the LLSIL as
follows:
The term ``lower living standard income level'' means that
income level (adjusted for regional, metropolitan, urban, and rural
differences and family size) determined annually by the Secretary
[of Labor] based on the most recent ``lower living family budget''
issued by the Secretary.
Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section 51 established the Targeted
Jobs Tax Credit (TJTC) for a portion of the wages paid by employers to
employees from ``targeted'' groups who begin work for the employer
before January 1, 1995. 26 U.S.C. 51(c)(4). Certain of the targeted
groups require that the worker be a member of ``an economically
disadvantaged family.'' See, e.g., 26 U.S.C. 51(d)(3)(A)(ii), (4)(C),
(7)(B), (8)(A)(iv), and (12)(A)(iv). Pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 51(d)(11),
the LLSIL is used to determine whether an individual is a member of an
economically disadvantaged family for applicable TJTC purposes. Since
the determination of whether an individual is a member of an
economically disadvantaged family necessarily will relate to a period
prior to 1995, the LLSIL figures in this notice will not be utilized by
the TJTC program under current law.
The most recent lower living family budget was issued by the
Secretary in the fall of 1981. Using those data, the 1981 LLSIL was
determined for programs under the now-repealed Comprehensive Employment
and Training Act, and for the TJTC. The four-person urban family budget
estimates previously published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
provide the basis for the Secretary to determine the LLSIL for training
and employment program operators. BLS terminated the four-person family
budget series in 1982, after publication of the Fall 1981 estimates.
Under JTPA, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA)
published the 1994 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of
April 22, 1994. 59 FR 19241. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect
cost of living increases for 1994 by applying the percentage change in
the December 1994 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U),
compared with the December 1993 CPI-U, to each of the April 22, 1994,
LLSIL figures. Those updated figures for a family of four are listed in
Table 1 below by region for both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan
areas. Since eligibility is determined by family income at 70 percent
of the LLSIL, pursuant to Section 4(8) of JTPA, those figures are
listed below as well.
Jurisdictions included in the various regions, based generally on
Census Divisions of the U.S. Department of Commerce, are as follows:
Northeast
Connecticut
Maine
Massachusetts
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Vermont
Virgin Islands
North Central
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Michigan
Minnesota
Missouri
Nebraska
North Dakota
Ohio
South Dakota
Wisconsin
South
Alabama
American Samoa
Arkansas
Delaware
District of Columbia
Florida
Georgia
Northern Marianas
Oklahoma
Palau
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
Kentucky
Louisiana
Marshall Islands
Maryland
Mississippi
Micronesia
North Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Virginia
West Virginia
West
Arizona
California
Colorado
Idaho
Montana
Nevada
New Mexico
Oregon
Utah
Washington
Wyoming
Additionally, separate figures have been provided for Alaska,
Hawaii, and Guam as indicated in Table 2 below.
For Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, the 1995 figures were updated by
creating a ``State Index'' based on the ratio of the urban change in
the State (using Anchorage for Alaska and Honolulu for Hawaii and Guam)
compared to the West regional metropolitan change, and then applying
that index to the West regional nonmetropolitan change.
Data on 25 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also
available. These are based on monthly, bimonthly or semiannual CPI-U
changes for a 12-month period ending in [[Page 20284]] December 1994.
The updated LLSIL figures for these MSAs, and 70 percent of the LLSIL,
rounded to the next highest ten, are set forth in Table 3 below.
Table 4 below is a listing of each of the various figures at 70
percent of the updated 1995 LLSIL for family sizes of one to six
persons. For families larger than six persons, an amount equal to the
difference between the six-person and the five-person family income
levels should be added to the six-person family income level for each
additional person in the family. Where the poverty level for a
particular family size is greater than the corresponding LLSIL figure,
the figure is indicated in parentheses.
Section 4(8) of JTPA defines ``economically disadvantaged'' as,
among other things, an individual whose family income was not in excess
of the higher of the poverty level or 70 percent of the LLSIL. The
Department of Health and Human Services published the annual update of
the poverty-level guidelines at 60 FR 7772 (February 9, 1995).
Use of These Data
Based on these data, Governors should provide the appropriate
figures to service delivery areas (SDAs), State Employment Security
Agencies, and employers in their States to use in determining
eligibility for JTPA. The Governor should designate the appropriate
LLSILs for use within the State from Tables 1 through 3. Table 4 may be
used with any of the levels designated.
Information may be provided by disseminating information on MSAs
and metropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas within the State, or it may
involve further calculations. For example, the State of New Jersey may
have four or more figures: Metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, for portions
of the State in the New York City MSA, and for those in the
Philadelphia MSA. If an SDA includes areas that would be covered by
more than one figure, the Governor may determine which is to be used.
Pursuant to the JTPA regulations at 20 CFR 627.200, guidelines,
interpretations, and definitions adopted by the Governor shall be
accepted by the Secretary to the extent that they are consistent with
the JTPA and the JTPA regulations.
Disclaimer on Statistical Uses
It should be noted that the publication of these figures is only
for the purpose of determining eligibility for applicable JTPA
programs. BLS has not revised the lower living family budget since
1981, and has no plans to do so. The four-person urban family budget
estimates series has been terminated. The CPI-U adjustments used to
update the LLSIL for this publication are not precisely comparable,
most notably because certain tax items were included in the 1981 LLSIL,
but are not in the CPI-U.
Thus, these figures should not be used for any statistical
purposes, and are valid only for eligibility determination purposes
under the JTPA program.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 18th day of April, 1995.
Donald J. Kulick,
Deputy Administrator.
BILLING CODE 4510-30-M
[[Page 20285]]
Appendix
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[FR Doc. 95-10152 Filed 4-24-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-C
