[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25086-25091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12017]
[[Page 25086]]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR
Employment and Training Administration
Job Training Partnership Act and Work Opportunity Tax Credit;
Lower Living Standard Income Level
AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.
ACTION: Notice of determination of lower living standard income level.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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 Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).
EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on May 6, 1998.
ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Ron Putz, 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: Mr. Ron Putz, Telephone: 202-219-5229
(this is not a toll free number).
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the Job Training
Partnership Act (JTPA) ``to establish programs to prepare youth and
adults facing serious barriers to employment for participation in the
labor force by providing job training and other services that will
result in increased employment and earnings, increased educational and
occupational skills, and decreased welfare dependency, thereby
improving the quality of the work force and enhancing the productivity
and competitiveness of the Nation,'' JTPA Section 2 and 20 CFR 626.1.
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).
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 Work
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) for a portion of the wages paid by
employers from ``targeted'' groups. The LLSIL figures published in this
notice shall be used to determine whether an individual is a member of
one of the targeted groups for applicable WOTC purposes.
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 WOTC. The four-person urban family budget
estimates previously published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)
provided 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 1997 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of
April 25, 1997, 62 FR 20205. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect
cost of living increases for 1997 by applying the percentage change in
the December 1997 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U),
compared with the December 1996 CPI-U, to each of the April 25, 1997,
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
3Connecticut New York
Maine Pennsylvania
Massachusetts Rhode Island
New Hampshire Vermont
New Jersey Virgin Islands
Midwest
Illinois Missouri
Indiana Nebraska
Iowa North Dakota
Kansas Ohio
Michigan South Dakota
Minnesota Wisconsin
South
Alabama Kentucky
American Samoa Louisiana
Arkansas Marshall Islands
Delaware Maryland
District of Columbia Mississippi
Florida Micronesia
Georgia North Carolina
Northern Marianas Tennessee
Oklahoma Texas
Palau Virginia
Puerto Rico West Virginia
South Carolina
West
Arizona New Mexico
California Oregon
Colorado Utah
Idaho Washington
Montana Wyoming
Nevada
Additionally, separate figures have been provided for Alaska,
Hawaii, and Guam as indicated in Table 2 below.
For Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, the 1998 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 December 1997. 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 1998 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 63 FR 9235 (February 24, 1998).
Use of These Data
Based on these data, Governors should provide the appropriate
figures to service delivery areas (SDAs), State Employment Security
Agencies, and
[[Page 25087]]
employers in their States to use in determining eligibility for JTPA
and WOTC. 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 and WOTC
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 and WOTC programs.
Signed at Washington, DC, this 27th day of April, 1998.
Charles Atkinson,
Deputy Administrator, Office of Job Training Programs.
BILLING CODE 4510-30-P
[[Page 25088]]
Appendix
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06MY98.002
[[Page 25089]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06MY98.003
[[Page 25090]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06MY98.004
[[Page 25091]]
[GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] TN06MY98.005
[FR Doc. 98-12017 Filed 5-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-C
