[Federal Register Volume 63, Number 87 (Wednesday, May 6, 1998)]
[Notices]
[Pages 25086-25091]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 98-12017]



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DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

Employment and Training Administration


Job Training Partnership 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 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. The Internal Revenue Code also provides that the 
term ``economically disadvantaged'' may be defined as 70 percent of the 
LLSIL for purposes of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective on May 6, 1998.

ADDRESSES: Send written comments to: Mr. Ron Putz, 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: Mr. Ron Putz, Telephone: 202-219-5229 
(this is not a toll free number).

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: It is a purpose of the Job Training 
Partnership Act (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 ``lower 
living standard income level'' (LLSIL).
    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.
    Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section 51 established the Work 
Opportunity Tax Credit (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 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, 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 1997 updates to the LLSIL in the Federal Register of 
April 25, 1997, 62 FR 20205. ETA has again updated the LLSIL to reflect 
cost of living increases for 1997 by applying the percentage change in 
the December 1997 Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), 
compared with the December 1996 CPI-U, to each of the April 25, 1997, 
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, 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                               
                                                                        
3Connecticut                         New York                           
Maine                                Pennsylvania                       
Massachusetts                        Rhode Island                       
New Hampshire                        Vermont                            
New Jersey                           Virgin Islands                     
                                                                        
                                 Midwest                                
                                                                        
Illinois                             Missouri                           
Indiana                              Nebraska                           
Iowa                                 North Dakota                       
Kansas                               Ohio                               
Michigan                             South Dakota                       
Minnesota                            Wisconsin                          
                                                                        
                                  South                                 
                                                                        
Alabama                              Kentucky                           
American Samoa                       Louisiana                          
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 1998 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 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 1997. 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 1998 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'' 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 63 FR 9235 (February 24, 1998).

Use of These Data

    Based on these data, Governors should provide the appropriate 
figures to service delivery areas (SDAs), State Employment Security 
Agencies, and

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employers in their States to use in determining eligibility for JTPA 
and WOTC. 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 to 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 and WOTC 
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 and WOTC programs.

    Signed at Washington, DC, this 27th day of April, 1998.
Charles Atkinson,
Deputy Administrator, Office of Job Training Programs.

BILLING CODE 4510-30-P

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Appendix
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[FR Doc. 98-12017 Filed 5-5-98; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4510-30-C