Job Training Partnership Act; Lower Living Standard Income Level

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Job Training Partnership 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: The Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) provides that the term

``economically disadvantaged'' may be defined as 70 percent of the

``lower living standard income level'' (LLSIL). To provide the most

accurate data possible, the Department of Labor is issuing revised

figures for the LLSIL.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on April 3, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Ms. Diane Mayronne, Office of

Employment and Training Programs, Employment and Training

Administration, Department of Labor, Room N-4463, 200 Constitution

Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Diane Mayronne, Telephone: 202-

219-5305 (this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the Job Training

Partnership Act (JTPA) ``to afford job training to those economically

disadvantaged individuals . . . who are in special need of such

training to obtain productive employment.'' JTPA Section 2; see 20 CFR

626.1 and 626.3(b). JTPA Section 4(8) defines, for the purposes of JTPA

eligibility, the term ``economically disadvantaged'' in part by

reference to the ``lower living standard income level'' (LLSIL). See 20

CFR 626.5.

The LLSIL figures published in this notice shall be used to

determine whether an individual is economically disadvantaged for

applicable JTPA purposes. JTPA Section 4(16) defines the LLSIL as

follows:

The term ``lower living standard income level'' means 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 the fall of 1981. Using those data, the 1981 LLSIL was

determined for programs under the now-repealed Comprehensive Employment

and Training Act. 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 for training and

employment program operators. BLS terminated the four-person family

budget series in 1982, after publication of the Fall 1981 estimates.

Under JTPA, the Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

published the 1995 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of

April 25, 1995. 60 FR 20283. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect

cost of living increases for 1995 by applying the percentage change in

the December 1995 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CIP-U),

compared with the December 1994 CPI-U, to each of the April 25, 1995,

LLSIL figures. Those updated figures for a family of four are listed in

Table 1 below by region for both metropolitan and nonmetropolital

areas. Since eligibility is determined by family income at 70 percent

of the LLSIL, pursuant to Section 4(8) of JTPA, 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 New York

Maine Pennsylvania

Massachusetts Rhode Island

New Hampshire Vermont

New Jersey Virginia Islands

Midwest

Illinois Missouri

Indiana Nebraska

Iowa North Dakota

Kansas Ohio

Michigan South Dakota

Minnesota Wisonsin

South

Alabama Kentucky

American Samoa Lousiana

Arkansas Marshall Islands

Delaware Maryland

District of Columbia Mississippi

Florida Micronesia

Georgia North Carolina

Northern Marianas Tennessee

Oklahoma Texas

Palau Virginia

Puerto Rico West Virginia

South Carolina

West

Arizona New Mexico

California Oregon

Colorado Utah

Idaho Washington

Montana Wyoming

Nevada

Additionally, separate figures have been provided for Alaska,

Hawaii,and Guam as indicated in Table 2 below.

For Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, the 1996 figures were updated by

creating a ``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

[[Page 14825]]

West regional metropolitan change, and then applying that index to the

West regional nonmetropolitan change.

Data on 25 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also

available. These are based on monthly, bimonthly or semiannual CPI-U

changes for a 12-month period ending in December 1995. The updated

LLSIL figures for these MSAs, and 70 percent of the LLSIL, rounded to

the next highest ten, are set forth in Table 3 below.

Table 4 below is a listing of each of the various figures at 70

percent of the updated 1996 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 figures,

the figure is indicated in parentheses.

Section 4(8) of JTPA defines ``economically disadvantaged'' as,

among other things, an individual whose family income was not in excess

of the higher of the poverty level or 70 percent of the LLSIL. The

Department of Health and Human Services published the annual update of

the poverty-level guidelines at 61 FR 8286 (March 4, 1996).

Use of These Data

Based on these data, Governors should provide the appropriate

figures to service delivery areas (SDAs), State Employment Security

Agencies, and employers in their States to use in determining

eligibility for JTPA. The Governor should designate the appropriate

LLSILs for use within the State from Tables 1 through 3. Table 4 may be

used with any of the levels designated.

Information may be provided by disseminating information on 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 figures: Metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, for portions

of the State in the New York City MSA, and for those in the

Philadelphia MSA. If an SDA includes areas that would be covered by

more than one figure, the Governor may determine which is to be used.

Pursuant to the JTPA regulations at 20 CFR 627.200, guidelines,

interpretations, and definitions adopted by the Governor shall be

accepted by the Secretary for the extent that they are consistent with

the JTPA and the JTPA regulations.

Disclaimer on Statistical Uses

It should be noted that the publication of these figures is only

for the purpose of determining eligibility for applicable JTPA

programs. 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 eligibility determination purposes

under the JTPA program.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 25th day of March, 1996.

Josephine Nieves,

Associate Assistant Secretary.

Appendix

Table 1.--Lower Living Standard Income Level by Region \1\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1996

Region adjusted 70 percent

LLSIL LLSIL

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Northeast:

Metro....................................... 26,840 18,790

Non-Metro................................... 26,920 18,840

Midwest:

Metro....................................... 24,840 17,390

Non-Metro................................... 23,640 16,550

South:

Metro....................................... 23,700 16,590

Non-Metro................................... 22,340 15,640

West:

Metro....................................... 26,290 18,400

Non-Metro................................... 26,110 18,270

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ For ease of calculation, these figures have been rounded to the

next highest ten dollars.

Table 2.--Lower Living Standard Income Level--Alaska, Hawaii and Guam

\1\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1996

Region adjusted 70 percent

LLSIL LLSIL

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Alaska:

Metro....................................... 33,980 23,790

Non-Metro................................... 33,070 23,150

Hawaii-Guam:

Metro....................................... 36,940 25,860

Non-Metro................................... 35,950 25,160

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Rounded to the next highest ten dollars.

[[Page 14826]]

Table 3.--Lower Living Standard Income Level--25 MSAs \1\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

1996

Region MSA adjusted 70 percent

LLSIL LLSIL

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Anchorage, AK................................. 33,980 23,790

Atlanta, GA................................... 23,620 16,530

Baltimore, MD................................. 25,060 17,542

Boston-Lawrence-Salem, MA/NH.................. 28,120 19,680

Buffalo-Niagara Falls, NY..................... 24,360 17,050

Chicago-Gary-Lake County, IL/IN/WI............ 25,990 18,200

Cinicinnati-Hamilton, OH/KY/IN................ 25,140 17,600

Cleveland-Akron-Lorain, OH.................... 25,600 17,920

Dallas-Ft Worth, TX........................... 22,570 15,800

Denver-Boulder, CO............................ 25,460 17,820

Detroit-Ann Arbor, MI......................... 24,010 16,800

Honolulu, HI.................................. 36,940 25,860

Houston-Galveston-Brazoria, TX................ 22,280 15,600

Kansas City, MO/KS............................ 23,870 16,700

Los Angeles-Anaheim-Riverside, CA............. 27,150 19,010

Milwaukee, WI................................. 25,290 17,700

Minneapolis-St Paul, MN/WI.................... 24,250 16,980

New York-Northern N.J.-Long Island, NY/NJ/CT.. 28,010 19,610

Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton, PA/NJ/DE/MD.. 26,310 18,420

Pittsburgh-Beaver Valley, PA.................. 25,140 17,600

St Louis-East St Louis, MO/IL................. 24,050 16,800

San Diego, CA................................. 27,390 19,170

San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA............ 27,050 18,940

Seattle-Tacoma, WA............................ 28,130 19,690

Washington, DC/MD/VA.......................... 28,540 19,980

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Rounded to the next highest ten dollars.

Table 4.--Seventy Percent of Updated 1996 LLSIL, by Family Size\1\

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Family of

one Two Three Four Five Six

------------------------------------------------------------------------

(5,620).... (9,200) (12,640) 15,600 18,410 21,530

(5,630).... (9,230) (12,670) 15,640 18,460 21,580

(5,690).... (9,320) (12,800) 15,800 18,640 21,800

(5,950).... (9,750) 13,390 16,530 19,510 22,810

(5,960).... (9,770) 13,410 16,550 19,530 22,840

(5,970).... (9,790) 13,440 16,590 19,580 22,890

(6,010).... (9,850) 13,530 16,700 19,710 23,050

(6,050).... (9,910) 13,610 16,800 19,820 23,180

(6,110).... (10,020) 13,750 16,980 20,040 23,430

(6,140).... (10,060) 13,810 17,050 20,120 23,530

(6,260).... (10,260) 14,090 17,390 20,520 24,000

(6,320).... (10,350) 14,210 17,540 20,700 24,210

(6,340).... 10,380 14,260 17,600 20,770 24,290

(6,370).... 10,440 14,340 17,700 20,890 24,430

(6,420).... 10,510 14,430 17,820 21,030 24,590

(6,450).... 10,570 14,520 17,920 21,150 24,730

(6,550).... 10,740 14,740 18,200 21,480 25,120

(6,580).... 10,780 14,800 18,270 21,560 25,210

(6,620).... 10,860 14,900 18,400 21,710 25,390

(6,630).... 10,870 14,920 18,420 21,740 25,420

6,760...... 11,090 15,220 18,790 22,170 25,930

6,780...... 11,120 15,260 18,840 22,230 26,000

6,820...... 11,180 15,340 18,940 22,350 26,140

6,840...... 11,220 15,400 19,010 22,430 26,230

6,900...... 11,310 15,530 19,170 22,620 26,460

7,060...... 11,570 15,880 19,610 23,140 27,060

7,090...... 11,610 15,940 19,680 23,220 27,160

7,090...... 11,620 15,590 19,690 23,230 27,170

7,190...... 11,790 16,180 19,980 23,580 27,570

8,330...... 13,660 18,750 23,150 27,320 31,950

8,560...... 14,040 19,270 23,790 28,070 32,830

9,060...... 14,840 20,380 25,160 29,690 34,720

9,310...... 15,260 20,950 25,860 30,520 35,690

------------------------------------------------------------------------

\1\ Figures provided in Tables 1-3 of this notice are for a family of

four persons. To use Table 4, the appropriate figure should be found

in the Family of Four column. Then one may read across the row for

family sizes other than four in the appropriate column.

[[Page 14827]]

[FR Doc. 96-7944 Filed 4-2-96; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-30-M