Job Training Partnership Act, Workforce Investment Act, and Work Opportunity Tax Credit; Lower Living Standard Income Level

DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration

Job Training Partnership Act, Workforce Investment Act, and Work

Opportunity Tax Credit; 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 Lower Living Standard Income Level (LLSIL) is a value used

in a number of Federal programs, including the Job Training Partnership

Act (JTPA), the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and the Work

Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC). The JTPA provides that the term

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

LLSIL. The WIA provides that the terms ``low-income individual'' and

``disadvantaged adult'' may be defined as a member of a family that

received a total family income, that, in relation to family size, does

not exceed 70 percent of the LLSIL. In addition, while the WIA provides

that State Boards and Local Boards must set the criteria for

determining whether employment leads to self-sufficiency, at a minimum,

such criteria must provide that self-sufficiency means employment that

pays at least 100 percent of the LLSIL. To provide the most accurate

data possible, the Department of Labor is issuing revised figures for

the LLSIL. The Internal Revenue Code also provides that the term

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

LLSIL for purposes of the WOTC.

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on May 14, 1999.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Ron Putz, Office of Employment

and Training Programs, Employment and Training Administration,

Department of Labor, Room N-4469, 200 Constitution Avenue, NW,

Washington, DC 20210.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Ron Putz, telephone: 202-219-5229,

x173; Fax: (202) 219-7190 (these are not toll free numbers).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the JTPA ``to establish

programs to prepare youth and adults facing serious barriers to

employment for participation in the labor force by providing job

training and other services that will result in increased employment

and earnings, increased educational and occupational skills, and

decreased welfare dependency, thereby improving the quality of the work

force and enhancing the productivity and competitiveness of the

Nation,'' JTPA section 2 and 20 CFR 626.1. JTPA section 4(8) defines,

for the purposes of JTPA eligibility, the term ``economically

disadvantaged'' in part by reference to the LLSIL.

The WIA, Pub. L. 105-220--August 7, 1998, which will be implemented

between July 1, 1999 and July 1, 2000, as a replacement to JTPA,

continues the use of the LLSIL standard in determining low income. WIA,

section 101(25), defines the term ``low income individual'' for the

purposes of WIA eligibility. In section 132(b)(1)(B)(v)(IV) defines the

term ``disadvantaged adult'' in part by reference to the LLSIL. In

addition, for purposes of adult eligibility, the WIA Interim Final

Regulations, section 663.230, requires that the State Boards and Local

Boards establish their own criteria for ``self sufficiency'' that, at a

minimum, means employment that pays at least the LLSIL.

The LLSIL figures published in this notice shall be used to

determine whether an individual is economically disadvantaged for JTPA.

JTPA section 4(16) 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. WIA, at

section 101(24), directly incorporates the JTPA definition of LLSIL,

and contains the specific applications as noted above.

Section 51 of the Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) established the

WOTC for a portion of the wages paid by employers from ``targeted''

groups. The LLSIL figures published in this notice shall be used to

determine whether an individual is a member of one of the targeted

groups for applicable WOTC purposes. The period for a WOTC tax credit

expires on June 30, 1999.

The most recent lower living family budget was issued by the

Secretary of Labor in the Fall of 1981. Using those data, the 1981

LLSIL was determined for programs under the now-repealed Comprehensive

Employment and Training Act, and for the WOTC. 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 1998 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of May

6, 1998, 63 FR 25086. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect cost

of living increases for 1998 by applying the percentage change in the

December 1998 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U),

compared with the December 1997 CPI-U, to each of the May 6, 1998,

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

Table 1 below by region for both metropolitan and nonmetropolitan

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

of the LLSIL, pursuant to section 4(8) of JTPA, and since section

132(b)(1)(B)(v)(IV) of WIA uses the 70 percent values in defining

economically disadvantaged, 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

Mississippi

Micronesia

North Carolina

Tennessee

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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 1999 figures were updated from

the May 6, 1998 ``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 West regional metropolitan change, and then

applying that index to the West regional metropolitan change.

Data on 23 selected Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) are also

available. These are based on semiannual CPI-U changes for a 12-month

period ending in December 1998. The updated LLSIL figures for these

MSAs, and 70 percent of the LLSIL, rounded to the next highest ten, are

reported in Table 3 below.

Table 4 below lists various figures at 70 percent of the updated

1999 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 figure, the figure is indicated in

parentheses.

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

section 101(25) of WIA defines ``low-income individual'' and section

132(a)(1)(B)(v)(IV) of WIA defines ``disadvantaged adult'' as, among

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

the higher of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) poverty

level or 70 percent of the LLSIL. HHS published the annual update of

the poverty-level guidelines at 64 FR 13428 (March 18, 1999). The HHS

poverty level guidelines may be found on the Internet at

http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/99poverty.htm.

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 and WOTC. State and Local Workforce Investment

Boards should ensure that their minimum standard for self-sufficiency

and related uses, is at least the appropriate LLSIL figure. 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

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 figures: metropolitan, nonmetropolitan, for portions of the State

in the New York City MSA, and for those in the Philadelphia MSA. If an

SDA under JTPA or a Workforce Development Area under WIA 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 to the extent that they

are consistent with the JTPA, and the JTPA regulations. Pursuant to WIA

section 112(c) and Interim Final Rule at 20 CFR Part 652, section

661.220, a State Plan, which contains the State's vision, goals,

strategies, 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 determining eligibility for applicable JTPA and WOTC

programs and for 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 eligibility determination for purposes

under the JTPA and WOTC programs, and for WIA as defined in the law and

regulations.

Signed at Washington, DC, this 7th day of May, 1999.

Shirley M. Smith,

Administrator, Office of Work-Based Learning.

BILLING CODE 451-30-P

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Appendix--Table 1 Through Table 4

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[FR Doc. 99-12217 Filed 5-13-99; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4510-30-C