[Federal Register Volume 71, Number 105 (Thursday, June 1, 2006)]
[Notices]
[Pages 31215-31221]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 06-5000]


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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 of 1998 (Pub. 
L.105-220) (WIA), the Secretary of Labor annually determines the Lower 
Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL) for uses described in the Law. WIA 
defines the term ``Low Income Individual'' as one who qualifies under 
various criteria, including an individual who received income for a 
six-month period that does not exceed the higher of the poverty line or 
70 percent of the LLSIL. This

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issuance provides the Secretary's annual LLSIL for 2006 and references 
the current 2006 Health and Human Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

DATES: Effective Date: This notice is effective on date of publication 
in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Haskel Lowery, Department of 
Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Room N-4464, Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Haskel Lowery, Telephone (202) 
693-3608; Fax (202) 693-3532 (these are not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is the purpose of the Workforce 
Investment Act of 1998 (WIA) ``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)(B)(v)(IV) 
define the terms ``disadvantaged youth,'' and ``disadvantaged adult'' 
in terms of the poverty line or LLSIL for state formula allotments. The 
governor and state/local workforce investment boards use the LLSIL for 
determining eligibility for youth, eligibility for employed adult 
workers for certain services, and for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit 
(WOTC). We encourage the governors and state/local workforce investment 
boards to consult WIA, its regulations, and the preamble to the WIA 
Final Rule (published at 65 FR 49294 (August 11, 2000)) for more 
specific guidance in applying the LLSIL to program requirements. The 
Department of Health and Human Services published the annual 2006 
update of the poverty-level guidelines in the Federal Register at 71 FR 
3848-3849, (Jan. 24, 2006). The Health and Human Services (HHS) 2006 
Poverty guidelines may also be found on the Internet at: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/06fedreg.htm. ETA plans to have the 2006 LLSIL 
available on its Web site at: http://www.doleta.gov/llsil/.
    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 data to 
ETA, from which it develops the LLSIL tables.
    ETA published the 2005 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register 
of May 11, 2005, at 70 FR 24841. This notice again updates the LLSIL to 
reflect cost of living increases for 2005, by applying the percentage 
change in the December 2005 Consumer Price Index for All Urban 
Consumers (CPI-U), compared with the December 2004, CPI-U, to each of 
the May 11, 2005 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 tenth. Since ``low income individual,'' 
``disadvantaged adult,'' and ``disadvantaged youth'' may be determined 
by family income at 70 percent of the LLSIL, pursuant to WIA Sections 
101(25), 127(b)(2)(C), and 132(b)(1)(B)(v)(IV), respectively, 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
Micronesia
Mississippi
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 2005 figures were updated 
from the May 11, 2005, ``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 Western regional metropolitan change, and 
then applying that index to the Western regional metropolitan change.
    Data on 23 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) is also 
available. These are based on semiannual CPI-U changes for a 12-month 
period ending in December 2005. The updated LLSIL figures for these 
MSAs and 70 percent of the LLSIL are reported in Table 3 below.
    Table 4 below lists each of the various figures at 70 percent of 
the updated 2006 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

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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 20 CFR 663.230 of WIA 
Regulations and WIA Section 134(d)(3)(A)(ii).

Use of These Data

    Governors should designate the appropriate LLSILs for use within 
the state from Tables one through three. Tables four and five may be 
used with any of the levels designated. The governor's designation 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 LLSIL figures: For Northeast 
metropolitan, for Northeast nonmetropolitan, for portions of the State 
in the New York City MSA, and for those in the Philadelphia MSA. If a 
workforce investment area includes areas that would be covered by more 
than one figure, the governor may determine which is to be used.
    Under 20 CFR 661.110, a state's 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 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 the WIA as defined in the law and 
regulations.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 19th day of May, 2006.
Gay M. Gilbert,
Administrator, Office of Workforce Investment.

Attachments

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[FR Doc. 06-5000 Filed 5-31-06; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-C