[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 83 (Wednesday, April 29, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 23866-23869]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09060]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Program Year 2020 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Section 167, National 
Farmworker Jobs Program Grantee Allotments

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Notice announces allotments for Program Year (PY) 2020 
for the WIOA Title I Section 167 National Farmworker Jobs Program, as 
required under Section 182(d) of the Workforce Innovation and 
Opportunity Act of 2014. The Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 
2020, enacted December 20, 2019, provides $85,229,000 for formula 
grants and another $6,122,000 for migrant and seasonal farmworker 
housing (of which not less than 70 percent shall be for permanent 
housing). Another $545,000 will be set aside for discretionary 
purposes.

DATES: The PY 2020 National Farmworker Jobs Program allotments become 
effective for the grant period that begins July 1, 2020.

ADDRESSES: Questions on this notice can be submitted to the Employment 
and

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Training Administration, Office of Workforce Investment, 200 
Constitution Ave. NW, Room C4510, Washington, DC 20210, Attention: 
Laura Iba[ntilde]ez, Unit Chief, (202) 693-3645 or Steven Rietzke, 
Division Chief at (202) 693-3912, or at [email protected]. Individuals with 
hearing or speech impairments may access the telephone numbers above 
via TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service at 
1-877-889-5627 (TTY-TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice is published pursuant to Section 
182(d) of the WIOA, Prompt Allotment of Funds.
    ETA developed the formula for the purpose of distributing funds 
geographically by state service area, on the basis of each state 
service area's relative share of persons eligible for the program. The 
formula's original methodology was described in a notice published in 
the Federal Register on May 19, 1999 (64 FR 27390). That information is 
accessible at https://www.federalregister.gov/.
    Beginning with PY 2018, ETA incorporated two modifications to the 
allotment formula, with the goal of providing more accurate estimates 
of each state service area's relative share of persons eligible for the 
program. The formula also used updated data from each of the four data 
files serving as the basis of the formula since 1999. The revised 
formula is available at https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/07/11/2018-14747/employment-and-training-administration-eta-program-year-py-2018-workforce-innovation-and-opportunity. Based on the new 
estimates, the Department of Labor (DOL or Department) instituted a 
hold-harmless provision for PY 2018 and two following years. The hold-
harmless provision is designed to provide a staged transition from old 
to new funding levels for state service areas and minimize the impact 
on those states incurring significant change.

I. Background

    The Department is announcing final PY 2020 allotments for the 
National Farmworker Jobs Program (NFJP). This notice provides 
information on the amount of funds available during PY 2020 to state 
service areas awarded grants through the PY 2020 Funding Opportunity 
Announcement (FOA) for the NFJP Career Services and Training grants and 
Housing grants. The allotments are based on the funds appropriated in 
the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, Public Law 116-94 
(from this point forward will be referred to as the ``the Act''). In 
appropriating these funds, Congress provided $85,229,000 for Career 
Services and Training grants; $6,122,000 for Housing grants; and 
$545,000 for discretionary purposes. Included below is the table 
listing the PY 2020 allotments for the NFJP Career Services and 
Training grants. Individual grants are awarded for Housing as a result 
of the grants competition and are further distributed according to 
language in the appropriations law requiring that of the total amount 
available, not less than 70 percent shall be allocated to permanent 
housing activities, leaving not more than 30 percent to temporary 
housing activities.

II. Description of Data Files and Review of PY 2018 Modifications to 
the Allotment Formula

    As with all state planning estimates since 1999, the PY 2020 
estimates are based on four data sources: (1) State-level, 2012 hired 
farm labor expenditure data from the United States Department of 
Agriculture's (USDA) Census of Agriculture (COA); (2) regional-level, 
2012 average hourly earnings data from the USDA's Farm Labor Survey; 
(3) regional-level, 2006-2014 demographic data from the ETA's National 
Agricultural Workers Survey (NAWS); and, (4) 2010-2014 (5-year file) 
Lower Living Standard Income Level data from the United States Census 
Bureau's American Community Survey. A detailed description of how each 
data source is used within the formula is in the May 19, 1999 FR (pages 
27396 to 27399).
    Two modifications were incorporated into the formula in PY 2018, 
and the formula for PY 2020 retains those modifications. Additional 
information regarding these modifications is located in the May 23, 
2018 FR 83 (pages 23937 to 23940) and the July 11, 2018 FR 83 (pages 
32151 to 32155).

III. Description of the Hold-Harmless Provision

    For PY 2020, the Department will continue the hold-harmless 
provision to the allotment formula in order to allow a staged 
transition from the application of the previous formula to the modified 
formula. The hold-harmless provision provides for a stop loss/stop gain 
limit to transition to the use of the updated data. Due to the length 
of time between updates, there were significant changes for a few 
states, necessitating the stop loss/stop gain approach. This approach 
is based on a state service area's previous year's allotment percentage 
share, which is its relative share of the total formula allotments. The 
staged transition of the hold-harmless provision was implemented 
specifically as follows:
    (1) In PY 2018, state service areas received an amount equal to 95 
percent of their PY 2017 allotment percentage share, as applied to the 
PY 2018 formula funds available;
    (2) In PY 2019, state service areas received an amount equal to 90 
percent of their PY 2018 allotment percentage share, as applied to the 
PY 2019 formula funds available;
    (3) In PY 2020, state service areas will receive an amount equal to 
at least 85 percent of their PY 2019 allotment percentage share, as 
applied to the PY 2020 formula funds available.
    In PY 2019 and 2020, the hold-harmless provision also provides that 
no state service area will receive an amount that is more than 150 
percent of their previous year's allotment percentage share.
    In PY 2021, since the Department has a responsibility to use the 
most current and reliable data available, amounts for the new awards 
will be based on updated data from the sources described in Section II, 
pending their availability. At that time, the Department will determine 
whether the changes to state allotments are significant enough to 
warrant another hold-harmless provision. Otherwise, allotments to each 
state service area will be for an amount resulting from a direct 
allotment of the proposed funding formula without adjustment.

IV. Minimum Funding Provisions

    A state area which would receive less than $60,000 by application 
of the formula will, at the option of the DOL, receive no allotment or, 
if practical, be combined with another adjacent state area. Funding 
below $60,000 is deemed insufficient for sustaining an independently 
administered program. However, if practical, a state jurisdiction which 
would receive less than $60,000 may be combined with another adjacent 
state area.

V. Program Year 2020 State Allotments

    For PY 2020, ETA based estimated funding on the funding levels 
provided in the Act for the migrant and seasonal farmworker program, of 
which $85,229,000 was allotted to Career Services and Training grants 
and $6,122,000 was allotted to Housing grants on the basis of the 
formula. The state service area allotment table shows the application 
of the third-year (85 percent) hold-harmless and minimum funding 
provisions versus what was allotted in PY 2019, followed by the 
difference in dollar amounts from PY

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2019, and the total percentage change (positive or negative).

    Signed at Washington, DC.
John Pallasch
Assistant Secretary, Employment and Training Administration.

    U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration National Farmworker Jobs Program--Career
                     Services and Training Grants PY 2020 Allocations to State Service Areas
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                                                    PY 2019  90     PY 2020  85
                      State                       StopLoss/  150  StopLoss/  150   $ Difference      Difference
                                                      StopGain        StopGain
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    Total.......................................     $82,447,000     $85,229,000      $2,782,000            3.37
                                                 ---------------------------------------------------------------
Alabama.........................................         751,290         801,605          50,315            6.70
Alaska..........................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Arizona.........................................       2,378,836       2,538,153         159,317            6.70
Arkansas........................................       1,072,255       1,144,067          71,812            6.70
California......................................      21,868,660      23,333,261       1,464,601            6.70
Colorado........................................       1,262,507       1,347,060          84,553            6.70
Connecticut.....................................         377,130         402,388          25,258            6.70
Delaware........................................         146,081         155,864           9,783            6.70
Dist of Columbia................................  ..............  ..............  ..............            0.00
Florida.........................................       3,734,826       3,763,684          28,858            0.77
Georgia.........................................       1,566,766       1,671,697         104,931            6.70
Hawaii..........................................         301,846         322,061          20,215            6.70
Idaho...........................................       1,666,122       1,777,707         111,585            6.70
Illinois........................................       1,637,247       1,746,897         109,650            6.70
Indiana.........................................       1,073,815       1,145,731          71,916            6.70
Iowa............................................       1,488,387       1,588,068          99,681            6.70
Kansas..........................................       1,143,620       1,220,211          76,591            6.70
Kentucky........................................       1,090,762       1,044,219        (46,543)           -4.27
Louisiana.......................................         820,452         798,040        (22,412)           -2.73
Maine...........................................         308,242         328,886          20,644            6.70
Maryland........................................         362,410         386,681          24,271            6.70
Massachusetts...................................         341,568         364,444          22,876            6.70
Michigan........................................       1,995,828       2,129,494         133,666            6.70
Minnesota.......................................       1,527,595       1,629,902         102,307            6.70
Mississippi.....................................       1,168,525       1,026,761       (141,764)           12.13
Missouri........................................         923,513         985,363          61,850            6.70
Montana.........................................         589,076         628,528          39,452            6.70
Nebraska........................................       1,214,215       1,295,534          81,319            6.70
Nevada..........................................         178,911         190,893          11,982            6.70
New Hampshire...................................         108,334         115,590           7,256            6.70
New Jersey......................................         627,196         602,990        (24,206)           -3.86
New Mexico......................................         983,177       1,049,022          65,845            6.70
New York........................................       1,492,399       1,574,968          82,569            5.53
North Carolina..................................       2,472,721       2,638,326         165,605            6.70
North Dakota....................................         776,042         828,016          51,974            6.70
Ohio............................................       1,328,722       1,417,710          88,988            6.70
Oklahoma........................................       1,146,469       1,007,381       (139,088)          -12.13
Oregon..........................................       2,293,830       2,447,454         153,624            6.70
Pennsylvania....................................       1,392,650       1,485,920          93,270            6.70
Puerto Rico.....................................       2,755,037       2,420,800       (334,237)          -12.13
Rhode Island....................................          56,902          60,713           3,811            6.70
South Carolina..................................         871,010         811,276        (59,734)           -6.86
South Dakota....................................         572,272         610,598          38,326            6.70
Tennessee.......................................         838,575         894,737          56,162            6.70
Texas...........................................       6,011,223       5,281,950       (729,273)          -12.13
Utah............................................         437,588         466,894          29,306            6.70
Vermont.........................................         174,107         185,768          11,661            6.70
Virginia........................................         939,663       1,002,595          62,932            6.70
Washington......................................       4,234,704       4,518,313         283,609            6.70
West Virginia...................................         176,865         155,408        (21,457)          -12.13
Wisconsin.......................................       1,536,848       1,639,775         102,927            6.70
Wyoming.........................................         230,181         245,597          15,416            6.70
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[FR Doc. 2020-09060 Filed 4-28-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FN-P