[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 93 (Friday, May 14, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26452-26457]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-12217]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Job Training Partnership Act, Workforce Investment 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.

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SUMMARY: The Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL) is a value used 
in a number of Federal programs, including the Job Training Partnership 
Act (JTPA), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and the Work 
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). The JTPA provides that the term 
``economically disadvantaged'' may be defined as 70 percent of the 
LLSIL. The WIA provides that the terms ``low-income individual'' and 
``disadvantaged adult'' may be defined as a member of a family that 
received a total family income, that, in relation to family size, does 
not exceed 70 percent of the LLSIL. In addition, while the WIA provides 
that State Boards and Local Boards must set the criteria for 
determining whether employment leads to self-sufficiency, at a minimum, 
such criteria must provide that self-sufficiency means employment that 
pays at least 100 percent of the 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 WOTC.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on May 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Ron Putz, Office of Employment 
and Training Programs, Employment and Training Administration, 
Department of Labor, Room N-4469, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW, 
Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ron Putz, telephone: 202-219-5229, 
x173; Fax: (202) 219-7190 (these are not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the 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 LLSIL.
    The WIA, Pub. L. 105-220--August 7, 1998, which will be implemented 
between July 1, 1999 and July 1, 2000, as a replacement to JTPA, 
continues the use of the LLSIL standard in determining low income. WIA, 
section 101(25), defines the term ``low income individual'' for the 
purposes of WIA eligibility. In section 132(b)(1)(B)(v)(IV) defines the 
term ``disadvantaged adult'' in part by reference to the LLSIL. In 
addition, for purposes of adult eligibility, the WIA Interim Final 
Regulations, section 663.230, requires that the State Boards and Local 
Boards establish their own criteria for ``self sufficiency'' that, at a 
minimum, means employment that pays at least the LLSIL.
    The LLSIL figures published in this notice shall be used to 
determine whether an individual is economically disadvantaged for JTPA. 
JTPA section 4(16) defines the LLSIL as 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. WIA, at 
section 101(24), directly incorporates the JTPA definition of LLSIL, 
and contains the specific applications as noted above.
    Section 51 of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) established the 
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 period for a WOTC tax credit 
expires on June 30, 1999.
    The most recent lower living family budget was issued by the 
Secretary of Labor 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 1998 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of May 
6, 1998, 63 FR 25086. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect cost 
of living increases for 1998 by applying the percentage change in the 
December 1998 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), 
compared with the December 1997 CPI-U, to each of the May 6, 1998, 
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, and since section 
132(b)(1)(B)(v)(IV) of WIA uses the 70 percent values in defining 
economically disadvantaged, 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

Midwest

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

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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 1999 figures were updated from 
the May 6, 1998 ``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 metropolitan change.
    Data on 23 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also 
available. These are based on semiannual CPI-U changes for a 12-month 
period ending in December 1998. The updated LLSIL figures for these 
MSAs, and 70 percent of the LLSIL, rounded to the next highest ten, are 
reported in Table 3 below.
    Table 4 below lists various figures at 70 percent of the updated 
1999 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'', 
section 101(25) of WIA defines ``low-income individual'' and section 
132(a)(1)(B)(v)(IV) of WIA defines ``disadvantaged adult'' as, among 
other things, an individual whose family income was not in excess of 
the higher of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty 
level or 70 percent of the LLSIL. HHS published the annual update of 
the poverty-level guidelines at 64 FR 13428 (March 18, 1999). The HHS 
poverty level guidelines may be found on the Internet at 
http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/99poverty.htm.

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 and WOTC. State and Local Workforce Investment 
Boards should ensure that their minimum standard for self-sufficiency 
and related uses, is at least the appropriate LLSIL figure. 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 
Metropolitan Statistical Areas (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 under JTPA or a Workforce Development Area under WIA 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. Pursuant to WIA 
section 112(c) and Interim Final Rule at 20 CFR Part 652, section 
661.220, a State Plan, which contains the State's vision, goals, 
strategies, policies and measures for the workforce investment system 
shall be accepted by the Secretary to the extent that they are 
consistent with the WIA and the WIA 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 and for WIA as defined in the law and regulations. 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 for purposes 
under the JTPA and WOTC programs, and for WIA as defined in the law and 
regulations.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 7th day of May, 1999.
Shirley M. Smith,
Administrator, Office of Work-Based Learning.
BILLING CODE 451-30-P

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Appendix--Table 1 Through Table 4
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[FR Doc. 99-12217 Filed 5-13-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-C