Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 25, 1995 / Notices 20283

Employment and Training

Administration

Job Training Partnership Act and

Targeted Jobs Tax Credit; Lower

Living Standard Income Level

AGENCY: Employment and Training

Administration, Labor.

ACTION: Notice of determination of lower

living standard income level.

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

Targeted Jobs Tax Credit (TJTC).

EFFECTIVE DATE: This notice is effective

on April 25, 1995.

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.

Internal Revenue Code (I.R.C.) Section

51 established the Targeted Jobs Tax

Credit (TJTC) for a portion of the wages

paid by employers to employees from

‘‘targeted’’ groups who begin work for

the employer before January 1, 1995. 26

U.S.C. 51(c)(4). Certain of the targeted

groups require that the worker be a

member of ‘‘an economically

disadvantaged family.’’ See, e.g., 26

U.S.C. 51(d)(3)(A)(ii), (4)(C), (7)(B),

(8)(A)(iv), and (12)(A)(iv). Pursuant to

26 U.S.C. 51(d)(11), the LLSIL is used to

determine whether an individual is a

member of an economically

disadvantaged family for applicable

TJTC purposes. Since the determination

of whether an individual is a member of

an economically disadvantaged family

necessarily will relate to a period prior

to 1995, the LLSIL figures in this notice

will not be utilized by the TJTC program

under current law.

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 TJTC. The

four-person urban family budget

estimates previously published by the

Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provide

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 1994 updates to the LLSIL

in the Federal Register of April 22,

1994. 59 FR 19241. ETA has again

updated the LLSIL to reflect cost of

living increases for 1994 by applying the

percentage change in the December

1994 Consumer Price Index for All

Urban Consumers (CPI–U), compared

with the December 1993 CPI–U, to each

of the April 22, 1994, 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

Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Vermont

Virgin Islands

North Central

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

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

1995 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
20284 Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 25, 1995 / Notices

December 1994. 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 1995 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 60 FR 7772 (February 9,

1995).

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 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 programs. BLS has not revised the

lower living family budget since 1981,

and has no plans to do so. The fourperson 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 18th day of

April, 1995.

Donald J. Kulick,

Deputy Administrator.

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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 25, 1995 / Notices 20285

Appendix
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Federal Register / Vol. 60, No. 79 / Tuesday, April 25, 1995 / Notices 20287

[FR Doc. 95–10152 Filed 4–24–95; 8:45 am]

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