00-13154. Workforce Investment Act (WIA)(Section 167) National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP)

AGENCY:

Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION:

Notice: Announcement of Formula Allocations for the Program Year (PY) 2000 NFJP.

SUMMARY:

Pursuant to Section 182(d) of the WIA, the ETA is publishing the PY 2000 allocations for the NFJP authorized under Section 167 of the WIA.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Ms. Alicia Fernandez-Mott, Chief, Division of Seasonal Farmworker Programs. Her e-mail address is <[e-mail]>. Her telephone number is [phone], ext. 121. (This is not a toll-free number.)

EFFECTIVE DATE:

May 25, 2000. Comments must be submitted on or before June 26, 2000.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

On May 19, 1999, a Notice of the new formula for allocating funds available for the NFJP (formerly referred to as the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker (MSFW) program) was published in the Federal Register at 64 FR 27390 (May 19, 1999). The Notice explains how the new formula achieves its purpose, which is to distribute funds geographically by State service area on the basis of each area's relative share of farmworkers who are eligible for enrollment in the NFJP. The new formula consists of a rational organization of multiple data sets selected to yield the relative share distribution of eligible farmworkers. The result is substantially more relevant to the purpose than the allotments determined by the prior formula. Because it is the best available allocation tool and to maintain consistency, the Department of Labor is using the new formula described in the May 19 Notice to allocate PY 2000 WIA section 167 funds. The rationale for the new allocation formula and underlying methodology on how the new formula realigns the NFJP allocations, is fully explained in the May 19 Notice. The Department of Labor invites comments on our decision to use this formula for allocating PY 2000 funds.

Implementing the new formula in PY 1999 gave rise to significant changes in relative funding levels. The magnitude of the realignment for some State service areas is substantial. This is attributable to the inherent weaknesses of the data sources used under the prior formula and also to the fact the sources had gradually become substantially date-stale. To provide for a smooth transition from the original distributions, to the distributions provided by the new formula, Part IV of the May 19, 1999 Notice provides a strategy for implementation of the new formula through four incremental “hold harmless” stages. The stages adjust the formula allocations by limiting the rate of reduction in relative funding levels to the four annual increments of 95 percent, 90 percent, 85 percent and 80 percent of the 1998 level—the last year under the old formula. Full implementation of the new (combined-data) formula is reached on the 5th year allocation. The May 19, 1999 Notice provides that for PY 2000, which is the second stage hold-harmless year, each State service area will receive no less than 90 percent of its PY 1998 allocation (64 FR 27390, 27399 § IV(2)). PY 2000 is the operating year that begins on July 1, 2000.

The Fiscal Year 2000 pre-recission appropriation for the MSFW programs under WIA Section 167 is $74,445,000. A portion of this amount is an addition to the Administration's budget request. This budget addition amount is designated in the Committee appropriation language for addressing two objectives. One objective applies to the state-by-state formula allocation of funds for the NFJP. The budget addition offsets the scheduled adjustment to those State service areas undergoing a reduction in funding, by financing the difference between their PY 1998 level and the PY 2000 hold-harmless adjusted level. The other is to provide additional funding to raise the discretionary support for the farmworker housing assistance grants from the 1998 level to a level of $3,000,000. The total budget addition amount is $ 3,428,000. The recission action on the appropriation for the WIA Section 167 is $250,000. All of the $250,000 recission amount is applied to reduce the budget addition. The final budget addition, after reduction for the recission amount, is $3,178,000.

In PY 2000, the base amount allocated under the formula is equal to the PY 1999 formula allocation amount of $67,596,408. The budget addition amount is applied to those state service areas that are allocated a declining relative share of funding under the second hold-harmless stage of the new formula. Had there been no recission action, the total cost of this offset would be $2,927,691. Application of the 7.293 percent budget recission, reduces the budget addition by $213,517 to the post-recission level of $2,714,174. The total amount allocated to the States for the NFJP is the base amount, plus the budget addition amount, less the applied recission amount, leaving a net total of $70,310,582. The effects of these steps for each State service area are shown in the last three columns of the “Allocation Table.”

Under 20 CFR 669.240(a), at least 94 percent of the funds appropriated must be allocated to the State service areas for the NFJP grants. The total amount ($70,310,582) allocated for PY 2000 is 94.446 percent, thus exceeding the minimum requirement. The remaining amount of the appropriation is available for the other WIA Section 167 activities for farmworkers, which include the post recission amount of $2,963,543 for the PY 2000 farmworker housing assistance grants.

Minimum Funding Provisions

Part V of the Federal Register Notice (See 64 FR 27390, 27400 § V (May 19, 1999) provides that a State service area allocated less than $60,000 could be combined with an adjoining State service area. For PY 2000, the Rhode Island area allocation of $2,875 will be combined with the Connecticut area allocation. The incumbent grantee will not be required to amend its PY 2000 operating plan due to this action.

PY 2000 Allocations

The final (far right-hand) column of the “Allocation Table” provides the allotments for the NFJP in PY 2000. Grantees will use these figures in preparing the PY 2000 NFJP grant plans.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 18th day of May, 2000.

Shirley M. Smith,

Administrator,, Office of Adult Services.

Allocation Table for Program Year 2000 National Farmworker Jobs Program

State	PY 1998 allotments	Formula allocation w/o hold harmless adjustment	Formula percentage share w/o hold harmless (in percent)	PY 2000 allocation with hold harmless adjustment	Cost to bring states to PY 1998 levels	Recission action (7.293)	PY 2000 allotments
Alabama	$791,835	$437,632	0.67766	$712,652	$79,183	$5,775	$786,060
Arizona	1,519,645	1,719,287	2.66226	1,646,953		0	1,646,953
Arkansas	1,167,409	724,893	1.12247	1,050,668	116,741	8,514	1,158,895
California	14,591,138	20,067,526	31.07392	16,077,073		0	16,077,073
Colorado	805,523	992,449	1.53678	879,010		0	879,010
Connecticut	206,024	303,689	0.47025	228,511		0	228,511
Delaware	118,334	125,899	0.19495	125,899		0	125,899
Florida	4,631,415	2,465,700	3.81806	4,168,274	463,141	33,777	4,597,638
Georgia	1,711,615	876,499	1.35723	1,540,454	171,161	12,483	1,699,132
Idaho	877,438	1,079,184	1.67108	957,349		0	957,349
Illinois	1,425,808	1,424,912	2.20643	1,424,912	896	65	1,425,743
Indiana	781,615	927,202	1.43574	850,271		0	850,271
Iowa	1,314,394	1,078,955	1.67073	1,182,955	131,439	9,586	1,304,808
Kansas	697,839	1,078,783	1.67046	777,719		0	777,719
Kentucky	1,352,613	1,043,179	1.61533	1,217,352	135,261	9,865	1,342,748
Louisiana	796,032	484,907	0.75086	716,429	79,603	5,805	790,227
Maine	327,397	174,702	0.27052	294,657	32,740	2,388	325,009
Maryland	306,291	363,789	0.56332	333,229		0	333,229
Massachusetts	351,027	298,012	0.46146	315,924	35,103	2,560	348,467
Michigan	878,641	944,430	1.46242	944,430		0	944,430
Minnesota	1,274,775	879,095	1.36125	1,147,298	127,477	9,297	1,265,478
Mississippi	1,449,044	571,321	0.88467	1,304,140	144,904	10,568	1,438,476
Missouri	1,094,524	976,379	1.51189	985,072	109,452	7,982	1,086,542
Montana	667,189	461,861	0.71518	600,470	66,719	4,866	662,323
Nebraska	774,884	1,092,397	1.69154	855,772		0	855,772
Nevada	200,795	159,091	0.24635	180,716	20,079	1,464	199,331
New Hampshire	112,600	100,958	0.15633	101,340	11,260	821	111,779
New Jersey	400,038	698,545	1.08168	451,763		0	451,763
New Mexico	598,720	934,978	1.44778	667,952		0	667,952
New York	1,850,667	1,088,774	1.68593	1,665,600	185,067	13,497	1,837,170
North Carolina	3,006,003	1,897,104	2.93760	2,705,403	300,600	21,923	2,984,080
North Dakota	468,362	609,496	0.94379	513,493		0	513,493
Ohio	904,951	1,264,492	1.95803	998,582		0	998,582
Oklahoma	608,145	1,276,891	1.97723	702,695		0	702,695
Oregon	1,087,697	1,452,311	2.24886	1,195,236		0	1,195,236
Pennsylvania	1,221,441	1,549,985	2.40010	1,336,212		0	1,336,212
Rhode Island	0	38,832	0.06013	2,875		0	2,875
South Carolina	1,080,106	391,046	0.60552	972,095	108,011	7,877	1,072,229
South Dakota	692,869	456,831	0.70739	623,582	69,287	5,053	687,816
Tennessee	957,799	720,217	1.11523	862,019	95,780	6,985	950,814
Texas	5,979,800	6,697,752	10.37126	6,475,747		0	6,475,747
Utah	245,354	288,106	0.44612	266,687		0	266,687
Vermont	213,134	105,217	0.16293	191,821	21,313	1,554	211,580
Virginia	1,036,441	708,789	1.09754	932,797	103,644	7,559	1,028,882
Washington	1,705,576	2,262,216	3.50297	1,873,085		0	1,873,085
West Virginia	219,325	100,275	0.15527	197,393	21,932	1,600	217,725
Wisconsin	1,229,201	953,157	1.47593	1,106,281	122,920	8,965	1,220,236
Wyoming	201,911	232,207	0.35956	219,105		0	219,105
Total Center United States	63,933,384	64,579,952	100.00	64,579,952	2,753,713	200,828	67,132,836
Conterminous United States	63,933,384	64,579,952	95.53755
Hawaii	251,607	204,254	4.16028	204,254	47,353	3,453	248,154
Puerto Rico	2,938,827	2,812,202	.30217	2,812,202	126,625	9,235	2,929,592
Subtot. (HI+PR)	3,190,434	3,016,456	4.46	3,016,456	173,978	12,688	3,177,746
Total United States	67,123,818	67,596,408	100.00	67,596,408	2,927,691	213,517	70,310,582