[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 91 (Wednesday, May 13, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 22588-22598]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-11103]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Employment and Training Administration Program Year (PY) 2009 
Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Allotments and Additional Funds From WIA 
Section 173(e) for Adult/Dislocated Worker Activities for Eligible 
States; PY 2009 Wagner-Peyser Act Final Allotments; PY 2009 Workforce 
Information Grants and FY 2009 Work Opportunity Tax Credit Allotments

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces states' allotments for PY 2009 for WIA 
Title I Youth, Adults and Dislocated Worker Activities programs; 
additional PY 2009 funding from WIA Section 173(e) for eligible states; 
final allotments for Employment Service (ES) activities under the 
Wagner-Peyser Act for PY 2009; Workforce Information Grants for PY 
2009; and Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) allotments for FY 2009.
    The WIA allotments for states and the final allotments for the 
Wagner-Peyser Act are based on formulas defined in their respective 
statutes. The WIA allotments for the outlying areas are based on a 
formula determined by the Secretary. As required by WIA section 182(d), 
on February 17, 2000, a Notice of the discretionary formula for 
allocating PY 2000 funds for the outlying areas (American Samoa, Guam, 
Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Northern Marianas, Palau, and the Virgin 
Islands) was published in the Federal Register at 65 FR 8236 (February 
17, 2000). The rationale for the formula and methodology was fully 
explained in the February 17, 2000, Federal Register Notice. The 
formula for PY 2009 is the same as used for PY 2000 and is described in 
the section on Youth Activities program allotments. Comments are 
invited on the formula used to allot funds to the outlying areas.
    States are expected to spend PY 2009 funds concurrently with 
Recovery Act funding to increase the availability of services quickly 
and effectively. The significant investment of funds presents an 
extraordinary and unique opportunity for the workforce system to 
advance transformational efforts and demonstrate its full capacity to 
innovate and implement effective One-Stop service delivery strategies. 
As states and localities plan how their One-Stop systems will make 
immediate use of the Recovery Act funds, ETA encourages them to take an 
expansive view of how the funds can be integrated into efforts to 
improve the effectiveness of the public workforce system. In this 
system, the needs of workers and employers are equally important in 
developing thriving communities where all citizens succeed and 
businesses prosper. Successful implementation of funding includes not 
only quick and effective provision of services and training for workers 
in need, but also leveraging changes in the system's basic operations 
to develop a strong, invigorated, innovative public workforce system 
capable of helping enable future economic growth and advancing shared 
prosperity for all Americans.
    In a stronger, more comprehensive workforce investment system, 
adults move easily between the labor market and education and training 
in order to advance in their careers and upgrade their contributions to 
the workplace, while disconnected youth are able to reconnect through 
multiple pathways to education and training opportunities necessary to 
enter and advance in the workforce. Adult education, job training, 
post-secondary education, registered apprenticeship, career advancement 
and supportive service activities are fully aligned with economic and 
community development strategies, so as to meet the skill needs of 
existing and emerging employers and high growth occupations as well as 
the needs of under-skilled adults. Under such a dual-customer approach, 
seamless career pathways would be developed and offered, and support 
services and needs-based payments would be available, making it far 
easier for young people and adults to advance and persist through 
progressive levels of the education and job training system as quickly 
as possible, and gain education and workforce skills of demonstrated 
value at each level. Education and training at every level would be 
closely aligned with jobs and industries important to local and 
regional economies. Every level of education and training would afford 
students and trainees the ability to advance in school or at work, with 
assessments and certifications linked to the requirements of the next 
level of education and employment.
    With this infusion of PY 2009 funding, along with the recent 
release of Recovery Act funds, states and local areas should consider 
how their funding decisions and implementation activities can help 
achieve this goal of workforce system transformation. New approaches 
should be reflected in plans and accomplishments should be documented 
as this transformation process evolves.

DATES: Comments on the formula used to allot funds to the outlying 
areas must be received by June 12, 2009.

ADDRESSES: Submit written comments to the Employment and Training 
Administration, Office of Financial and Administrative Management, 200 
Constitution Ave., NW., Room N-4702, Washington, DC 20210, Attention: 
Mr. Kenneth Leung, (202) 693-3471 (phone), (202) 693-2859 (fax), e-
mail: [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: WIA Youth Activities allotments--Evan 
Rosenberg at (202) 693-3593 or LaSharn Youngblood at (202) 693-3606; 
WIA Adult and Dislocated Worker Activities, ES final allotments, and 
WOTC allotments--Mike Qualter at (202) 693-3014; Workforce Information 
Grant allotments--Anthony Dais at (202) 693-2784.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Department of Labor (DOL or Department) 
is announcing WIA allotments for PY 2009 for Youth Activities, Adults 
and Dislocated Worker Activities, and Wagner-Peyser Act PY 2009 final 
allotments. This document provides information on the amount of funds 
available during PY 2009 to states with an approved WIA Title I and 
Wagner-Peyser Act Strategic Plan for PY 2009, and information regarding 
allotments to the outlying areas. The allotments are based on the funds 
appropriated in the Omnibus Appropriations Act 2009, Public Law 111-8, 
March 11, 2009. Attached are tables listing the PY 2009 allotments for 
programs under WIA Title I Youth Activities (Attachment I), Adult and 
Dislocated Workers Employment and Training Activities (Attachments II 
and III, respectively), additional assistance under Section 173(e) 
(Attachment IV), and the PY 2009 Wagner-Peyser Act final allotments 
(Attachment V). Also attached are the PY 2009 Workforce Information 
Grant table (Attachment VI) and the FY 2009 Work Opportunity Tax Credit 
allotment table (Attachment VII).

I. Youth Activities Allotments

    PY 2009 Youth Activities funds under WIA total $924,069,000. 
Attachment I includes a breakdown of the Youth Activities program 
allotments for PY 2009 and provides a comparison of these allotments to 
PY 2008 Youth Activities allotments for all states, outlying areas, 
Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. Before determining the amount 
available for states, the total funding available for the outlying 
areas was reserved at 0.25 percent of the full

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amount appropriated for Youth Activities. On December 17, 2003, the 
President signed Public Law 108-188, the Compact of Free Association 
Amendments Act of 2003, which provides for consolidation of all 
funding, including WIA Title I, for the Marshall Islands and Micronesia 
into supplemental funding grants in the Department of Education. The 
Department of Education's appropriations now include funding for these 
supplemental grants; therefore, WIA Title I funds are no longer being 
provided for these two areas. The Compact, as amended by the 
Consolidated Appropriations Act 2008, continues the availability of 
programs previously available to Palau through September 2009, 
including WIA Title I funding provisions. The methodology for 
distributing funds to all outlying areas is not specified by WIA, but 
is at the Secretary's discretion. The methodology used is the same as 
used since PY 2000, i.e., funds are distributed among the remaining 
areas by formula based on relative share of number of unemployed, a 90 
percent hold-harmless of the prior year share, a $75,000 minimum, and a 
130 percent stop-gain of the prior year share. As in PY 2008, data for 
the relative share calculation in the PY 2009 formula were from 2000 
Census data for all outlying areas, obtained from the Bureau of the 
Census (Bureau) and are based on 2000 Census surveys for those areas 
conducted either by the Bureau or the outlying areas under the guidance 
of the Bureau. The total amount available for Native Americans is 1.5 
percent of the total amount for Youth Activities, in accordance with 
WIA section 127. After determining the amount for the outlying areas 
and Native Americans, the amount available for allotment to the states 
for PY 2009 is $907,897,792. This total amount was below the required 
$1 billion threshold specified in section 127(b)(1)(C)(iv)(IV); 
therefore, as in PY 2008, the WIA additional minimum provisions were 
not applied, and, instead, as required by WIA, the Job Training 
Partnership Act (JTPA) section 202(a)(3) (as amended by section 701 of 
the Job Training Reform Amendments of 1992) minimums of 90 percent 
hold-harmless of the prior year allotment percentage and 0.25 percent 
state minimum floor were used. Also, as required by WIA, the provision 
applying a 130 percent stop-gain of the prior year allotment percentage 
was used. The three formula factors required in WIA use the following 
data for the PY 2009 allotments:
    (1) Number of unemployed for Areas of Substantial Unemployment 
(ASUs), averages for the 12-month period, July 2007 through June 2008;
    (2) Number of excess unemployed individuals or the ASU excess 
(depending on which is higher), averages for the same 12-month period 
used for ASU unemployed data; and
    (3) Number of economically disadvantaged youth (age 16 to 21, 
excluding college students and military), from special 2000 Census 
calculations.
    The ASU data for the PY 2009 allotments was identified by the 
states using special 2000 Census data based on households, obtained 
under Employment and Training Administration contract with the Census 
Bureau and provided to states by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

II. Adult Employment and Training Activities Allotments

    The total Adult Employment and Training Activities appropriation is 
$861,540,000. Attachment II shows the PY 2009 Adult Employment and 
Training Activities allotments and comparison to PY 2008 allotments by 
state. Like the Youth Activities program, the total available for the 
outlying areas was reserved at 0.25 percent of the full amount 
appropriated for Adult Activities. As discussed in the Youth Activities 
paragraph, beginning in PY 2005, WIA funding for the Marshall Islands 
and Micronesia is no longer provided; instead, funding is provided in 
the Department of Education's appropriation. The Adult Activities funds 
for grants to the remaining outlying areas, for which the distribution 
methodology is at the Secretary's discretion, were distributed among 
the areas by the same principles, formula and data as used for outlying 
areas for Youth Activities. After determining the amount for the 
outlying areas, the amount available for allotments to the states is 
$859,386,150. Like the Youth Activities program, the WIA minimum 
provisions were not applied for the PY 2009 allotments because the 
total amount available for the states was below the $960 million 
threshold required for Adult Activities in section 
132(b)(1)(B)(iv)(IV). Instead, as required by WIA, the minimum 
allotments were calculated using the JTPA section 202(a)(3) (as amended 
by section 701 of the Job Training Reform Amendments of 1992) minimums 
of 90 percent hold-harmless of the prior year allotment percentage and 
0.25 percent state minimum floor. Also, like the Youth Activities 
program, a provision applying a 130 percent stop-gain of the prior year 
allotment percentage was used. The three formula factors use the same 
data as used for the PY 2008 Youth Activities formula, except that data 
from the 2000 Census for the number of economically disadvantaged 
adults (age 22 to 72, excluding college students and military) were 
used.

III. Dislocated Worker Employment and Training Activities Allotments

    The total Dislocated Worker appropriation is $1,466,891,000. The 
total appropriation includes formula funds for the states, while the 
National Reserve is used for National Emergency Grants, technical 
assistance and training, demonstration projects (including Community-
Based Job Training Grants), the outlying areas' Dislocated Worker 
allotments, and additional assistance to eligible states. Attachment 
III shows the PY 2009 Dislocated Worker Activities fund allotments by 
state. Like the Youth and Adult Activities programs, the total 
available for the outlying areas was reserved at 0.25 percent of the 
full amount appropriated for Dislocated Worker Activities. WIA funding 
for the Marshall Islands and Micronesia is no longer provided, as 
discussed above. The Dislocated Worker Activities funds for grants to 
outlying areas, for which the distribution methodology is at the 
Secretary's discretion, were distributed among the remaining areas by 
the same pro rata share as the areas received for the PY 2009 WIA Adult 
Activities program, the same methodology used in PY 2008. For the state 
distribution of formula funds, the three formula factors required in 
WIA use the following data for the PY 2009 allotments:
    (1) Number of unemployed, averages for calendar year 2008;
    (2) Number of excess unemployed, averages for calendar year 2008; 
and
    (3) Number of long-term unemployed, averages for calendar year 
2008.
    Since the Dislocated Worker Activities formula has no floor amount 
or hold-harmless provisions, funding changes for states directly 
reflect the impact of changes in the number of unemployed.

IV. Additional Funding From WIA Section 173(e) for Adult/Dislocated 
Worker Activities for Eligible States

    WIA section 173(e) provides that up to $15 million from Dislocated 
Workers National Reserve is to be made available annually to certain 
states that receive less funds under the WIA Adult Activities formula 
than they would have received had the JTPA Title II-A Adult program 
formula been in effect. The amount of the grants is based on the

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difference between the WIA and JTPA formula allotments; funds are 
available for grants for up to eight states with the largest 
difference. The additional funding must be used for Adult or Dislocated 
Worker Activities. In PY 2009, three states are eligible for these 
additional funds, for a total of $7,026,932 (Attachment IV).

V. Wagner-Peyser Act Final Allotments

    The appropriated level for PY 2009 for ES grants totals 
$703,576,000. After determining the funding for outlying areas, 
allotments to states were calculated using the formula set forth at 
section 6 of the Wagner-Peyser Act (29 U.S.C. 49e). PY 2009 formula 
allotments were based on each state's share of calendar year 2008 
monthly averages of the civilian labor force (CLF) and unemployment. 
The Secretary of Labor is required to set aside up to three percent of 
the total available funds to assure that each state will have 
sufficient resources to maintain statewide employment service 
activities, as required under section 6(b)(4) of the Wagner-Peyser Act. 
In accordance with this provision, the three percent set-aside funds 
are included in the total allotment. The set-aside funds were 
distributed in two steps to states that have lost in relative share of 
resources from the previous year. In Step 1, states that have a CLF 
below one million and are also below the median CLF density were 
maintained at 100 percent of their relative share of prior year 
resources. All remaining set-aside funds were distributed on a pro-rata 
basis in Step 2 to all other states losing in relative share from the 
prior year but not meeting the size and density criteria for Step 1. 
The distribution of Wagner-Peyser Act funds (Attachment V) includes 
$701,860,926 for states, as well as $1,715,074 for outlying areas.
    Traditionally, a portion of Wagner-Peyser Act formula funds have 
been set aside in a reserve to pay centrally for states' postage costs 
associated with the conduct of labor exchange services. Beginning 
October 1, 2008, states and outlying areas were required to pay for 
their own postage costs with their formula grants. Consequently, 
beginning with PY 2008, there is no longer a postage reserve taken off 
the top from funds distributed by formula, and all funds are now 
distributed by formula. This provision continues in PY 2009.
    Under section 7 of the Wagner-Peyser Act, 10 percent of the total 
sums allotted to each state shall be reserved for use by the Governor 
to provide performance incentives for ES offices, services for groups 
with special needs, and for the extra costs of exemplary models for 
delivering job services.

VI. Workforce Information Grants

    Total PY 2009 funding for Workforce Information Grants to states is 
$32,000,000. The allotment figures for each state are listed in 
Attachment VI. Funds are distributed by administrative formula, with a 
reserve of $176,800 for Guam and the Virgin Islands. The remaining 
funds are distributed to the states with 40 percent distributed equally 
to all states and 60 percent distributed based on each state's share of 
CLF for the 12 months ending September 2008. As in the Wagner-Peyser 
program, there is no longer a postage reserve taken from funds 
distributed by formula. Instead, all funds are distributed by formula 
and all states will use their formula grants to cover postage costs.

VII. Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program: Grants to States

    Total funding for FY 2009 is $18,520,000. After reserving $20,000 
for the Virgin Islands, funds were distributed to states by 
administrative formula with a $66,000 minimum allotment and a 95 
percent stop-loss/120 percent stop-gain from the prior year allotment 
share percentage. The allotment formula data factors and related 
percentages used are as follows:
    (1) 50 percent based on each state's relative share of total FY 
2008 certifications issued for the WOTC program;
    (2) 30 percent based on each state's relative share of the CLF for 
twelve months ending September 2008; and
    (3) 20 percent based on each state's relative share of the adult 
recipients of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) for FY 
2007.
    The final distribution of WOTC funding includes $18,500,000 for 
states and $20,000 for the Virgin Islands. As in the Wagner-Peyser Act 
program, there is no longer a postage reserve taken from funds 
distributed by formula. Instead, all funds are distributed by formula 
and all states will use their formula grants to cover postage costs. 
The total allotment distribution by state is displayed in Attachment 
VII.

    Signed at Washington, DC, on this 7th day of May 2009.
Douglas F. Small,
Deputy Assistant Secretary.

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[FR Doc. E9-11103 Filed 5-12-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-C