[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 93 (Friday, May 12, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 30630-30636]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11978]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Workforce Investment Act; 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: Under Title I of the Workforce Investment Act (Pub. L. 105-
220), the Secretary of Labor annually determines the Lower Living 
Standard Income Level (LLSIL) for uses defined in the Law. WIA defines 
the term ``Low Income Individual'' as one who qualifies under various 
criteria, including an individual who received income that does not 
exceed the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the lower living 
standard income level. This issuance provides the Secretary's annual 
LLSIL for 2000 and references the current 2000 Health and Human 
Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on May 12, 2000.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Ron Putz, Office of Adult 
Services, Employment and Training Administration, Department of Labor, 
Room N-4671, 200 Constitution Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ron Putz, Telephone 202-219-7694 
x134; Fax (202) 219-0376 (these are not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of the Workforce Investment Act 
(WIA) is ``to provide workforce investment activities, through 
statewide and local workforce investment systems, that increase the 
employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase 
occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result, 
improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and 
enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation.''
    The LLSIL is used for several purposes under WIA: specifically, WIA 
Section 101(25) defines the term ``low income individual for 
eligibility purposes'' Sections 127(b)(2)(C) and 132(b)(1)(iii)(IV) 
define the terms ``disadvantaged adult,'' and ``disadvantaged youth'' 
in terms of the poverty line or LLSIL for purposes of State allotments. 
The Governor and State/local Workforce Investment Boards need the LLSIL 
for determining eligibility for youth, eligibility for employed adult/
dislocated workers for certain services, and for the reauthorized Work 
Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). We encourage the Governors and State/
local Workforce Investment Boards to consult WIA and its Regulations 
and Preamble for more specific guidance in applying the LLSIL to 
program requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services 
published the annual update of the poverty-level guidelines in the 
Federal Register at 65, FR 7555, (Feb. 15, 2000). The HHS poverty-level 
guidelines may also be found on the Internet at http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/00.htm. ETA plans to have the 2000 LLSIL available on its 
website at: http://www.wdsc.org/llsil/llsil00.htm.
    WIA section 101(24) 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.'' 
The most recent lower living family budget was issued by the Secretary 
of Labor in the fall of 1981. 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. BLS 
terminated the four-person family budget series in 1982, after 
publication of the Fall 1981 estimates. Currently BLS provides current 
data to ETA, from which it develops the LLSIL tables.
    The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) published the 1999 
updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register on May 14, 1999, at 64 FR 
26452. This notice again updates the LLSIL to reflect cost of living 
increases for 1999 by applying the BLS provided percentage change in 
the December 1999 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), 
compared with the December 1998 CPI-U, to each of the May 14, 1999 
LLSIL figures. Those updated figures for a family of four are listed in 
Table 1 below by region for both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan 
areas. Figures in all of the accompanying tables are rounded up to the 
nearest ten. Since ``low income individual,'' ``disadvantaged adult, 
and ``disadvantaged youth'' may be determined by family income at 70 
percent of the LLSIL, 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
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 year 2000 figures were updated 
from the

[[Page 30631]]

May 14, 1999 ``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 (MSA's) are also 
available. These are based on semiannual CPI-U changes for a 12 month 
period ending in December 1999. The updated LLSIL figures for these 
MSA's and 70 percent of the LLSIL are reported in Table 3.
    Table 4 is a listing of each of the various figures at 70 percent 
of the updated 2000 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. Table 5, 100 percent of LLSIL, is used to 
determine self-sufficiency as noted at Sec. 663.230 of WIA Interim 
Final Regulations and WIA section 134(d)(3)(A)(ii).

Use of Data

    Governors should designate the appropriate LLSIL's for use within 
the State from Tables 1 through 3. Tables 4 and 5 may be used with any 
of the levels designated. The Governor's designation may be provided by 
disseminating information on Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA's) 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 LLSIL figures: metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, for 
portions of the State in the New York City MSA, and for those in the 
Philadelphia MSA. If a Workforce Development Area includes areas that 
would be covered by more than one figure, the Governor may determine 
which is to be used. Under 20 CFR 661.120, a State's policies and 
measures for the workforce investment system will be accepted by the 
Secretary to the extent that they are not inconsistent 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 meeting the requirements specified by 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 those purposes under WIA as defined in the law and 
regulations.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 5th day of May 2000.
Shirley M. Smith,
Administrator, Office of Adult Services.
Attachments

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[FR Doc. 00-11978 Filed 5-11-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4530-30-C