[Federal Register Volume 85, Number 84 (Thursday, April 30, 2020)]
[Notices]
[Pages 24035-24036]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2020-09234]


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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) 2020 Lower Living 
Standard Income Level (LLSIL)

AGENCY: Employment and Training Administration (ETA), Labor.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: Title I of WIOA requires the U.S. Secretary of Labor 
(Secretary) to update and publish the LLSIL tables annually, for uses 
described in the law (including determining eligibility for youth). 
WIOA defines the term ``low-income individual'' as one whose total 
family annual income does not exceed the higher level of the poverty 
line or 70 percent of the LLSIL. This issuance provides the Secretary's 
annual LLSIL for 2020 and references the current 2020 Health and Human 
Services ``Poverty Guidelines.''

DATES: This notice is effective April 30, 2020.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS:  Please contact Samuel Wright, 
Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration, 200 
Constitution Avenue NW, Room C-4526, Washington, DC 20210; Telephone: 
202-693-2870; Fax: 202-693-3015 (these are not toll-free numbers); 
Email address: [email protected]. Individuals with hearing or 
speech impairments may access the telephone number above via Text 
Telephone (TTY/TDD) by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay 
Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS ON FEDERAL YOUTH EMPLOYMENT 
PROGRAMS:  Please contact Sara Hastings, Department of Labor, 
Employment and Training Administration, 200 Constitution Avenue NW, 
Room N-4464, Washington, DC 20210; Telephone: 202-693-3599; Email: 
[email protected]. Individuals with hearing or speech impairments 
may access the telephone number above via TTY by calling the toll-free 
Federal Information Relay Service at 1-877-889-5627 (TTY/TDD).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The purpose of WIOA is to provide workforce 
investment activities through statewide and local workforce investment 
systems that increase the employment, retention, and earnings of 
participants. WIOA programs are intended to increase the occupational 
skill attainment by participants and the quality of the workforce, 
thereby reducing welfare dependency and enhancing the productivity and 
competitiveness of the Nation.
    LLSIL is used for several purposes under the WIOA. Specifically, 
WIOA SEC.3(36) defines the term ``low-income individual'' for 
eligibility purposes, and Sections 127(b)(2)(C) and 132(b)(1)(B)(V)(IV) 
define the terms ``disadvantaged youth'' and

[[Page 24036]]

``disadvantaged adult'' in terms of the poverty line or LLSIL for State 
formula allotments. The governor and state and local workforce 
development boards use the LLSIL for determining eligibility for youth 
and adults for certain services. ETA encourages governors and state/
local boards to consult the WIOA Final Rule and ETA guidance for more 
specific guidance in applying LLSIL to program requirements. The U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published the most 
current poverty-level guidelines in the Federal Register on January 17, 
2020 (Volume 85, No. 12), pp. 3060-3061. The HHS 2020 Poverty 
guidelines may also be found on the internet at https://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty-guidelines. ETA will have the 2020 LLSIL and the HHS Poverty 
guidelines available on its website at http://www.doleta.gov/llsil.
    WIOA Section 3(36)(B) defines 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 
in fall 1981. The four-person urban family budget estimates, previously 
published by the U.S. 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, which ETA then 
uses to develop the LLSIL tables.
    This notice updates the LLSIL to reflect cost of living increases 
for 2019, by calculating the percentage change in the most recent 2019 
Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) for an area to the 
2019 CPI-U, and then applying this calculation to each of the May 29, 
2019 LLSIL figures (published in the Federal Register of May 29, 2019, 
at Vol. 84, No.103 pp. 24818-24819) for the 2020 LLSIL.
    Microsoft Excel files are used in place of the LLSIL tables that 
were published in the Federal Register notice in previous years. The 
LLSIL tables will be available on the ETA LLSIL website at http://www.doleta.gov/llsil.
    The website contains updated figures for a four-person family in 
Table 1, listed by region for both metropolitan and non-metropolitan 
areas. Incomes in all of the tables are rounded up to the nearest 
dollar. Since program eligibility for low-income individuals, 
``disadvantaged adults,'' and ``disadvantaged youth'' may be determined 
by family income at 70 percent of the LLSIL, pursuant to WIOA Section 3 
(36)(A)(ii) and Section 3(36)(B), respectively, those figures are 
listed as well.

I. Jurisdictions

    Jurisdictions included in the various regions, based generally on 
the Census Regions of the U.S. Department of Commerce, are as follows:

A. Northeast

    Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New 
York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

B. Midwest

    Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, 
Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

C. 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, 
and West Virginia.

D. West

    Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, 
Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
    Additionally, the LLSIL Excel file provides separate figures for 
Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam.
    Data for 23 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also 
available. These are based on annual CPI-U changes for a 12-month 
period ending in December 2019. The updated LLSIL figures for these 
MSAs and 70 percent of LLSIL are also available in the LLISL Excel 
file.
    The LLSIL Excel file also lists each of the various figures at 70 
percent of the updated 2019 LLSIL for family sizes of one to six 
persons. Please note, 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 70 
percent of the LLSIL figure, the figure is shaded.
    The LLSIL Excel file also indicates 100 percent of LLSIL for family 
sizes of one to six, and is used to determine self-sufficiency as noted 
at Section 3 (36)(A)(ii) and Section 3 (36)(B) of WIOA.

II. Use of These Data

    Governors should designate the appropriate LLSILs for use within 
the State using the LLSIL Excel files on the website. The governor's 
designation may be provided by disseminating information on MSAs and 
metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas within the state or it may 
involve further calculations. An area can be part of multiple LLSIL 
geographies. For example, an area in the State of New Jersey may have 
four or more LLSIL figures. All cities, towns, and counties that are 
part of a metro area in New Jersey are a part of the Northeast 
metropolitan; some of these areas can also be a portion of the New York 
City MSA. New Jersey also has areas that are part of the Philadelphia 
MSA, a less populated area in New Jersey may be a part of the Northeast 
non-metropolitan. If a workforce investment area includes areas that 
would be covered by more than one LLSIL figure, the governor may 
determine which is to be used.
    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 WIOA and WIOA regulations.

III. Disclaimer on Statistical Uses

    It should be noted that publication of these figures is only for 
the purpose of meeting the requirements specified by WIOA 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 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 WIOA as defined in the law and regulations.

John Pallasch,
Assistant Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2020-09234 Filed 4-29-20; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-FT-P