§3162 State allotments

Summary

Sets aside parts of the youth workforce money each year and then divides the rest to states and other groups. If the yearly appropriation under section 3181(a) is more than $925,000,000, 4 percent of the excess must go to services for migrant and seasonal farmworkers. From the remaining money, up to 1.5 percent may go to Native American youth programs, and up to 0.25 percent may go to the outlying areas for youth and statewide work programs. Grants to outlying areas are competitive and run through the Pacific Region Educational Laboratory in Honolulu, which may get up to 5 percent of those grant funds for its admin costs. The rest is split among the states: one-third based on people unemployed in high-unemployment areas, one-third based on the “excess” unemployed, and one-third based on the number of disadvantaged youth. Rules limit how small or large a State’s share can be, including a floor tied to 90 percent of the State’s prior share or the State’s 2014 allotment, a minimum amount that starts at 0.3 percent of $1,000,000,000 (plus 0.4 percent of any amount over $1,000,000,000), and a cap at 130 percent of the prior year’s percentage; a special 2014 method applies if the available remainder does not exceed $1,000,000,000. Short definitions used by the formula: “allotment percentage” means the State’s share of the remainder for a year; “area of substantial unemployment” means an area with at least a 6.5 percent average unemployment rate over the last 12 months; “disadvantaged youth” means ages 16–21 with family income at or below the higher of the poverty line or 70 percent of the lower living standard income level; “excess number” means unemployed above 4.5 percent of the civilian labor force (statewide or in high-unemployment areas); “low-income level” is $7,000 in 1969 adjusted by the Consumer Price Index for later years, rounded to the nearest $1,000. College students and members of the Armed Forces should be excluded from disadvantaged youth counts when appropriate. If a State has more than 20 percent of its prior-year allotment unused at the end of the prior program year, that excess can be reallotted to other eligible States based on relative allotment sizes; an “eligible State” has no excess to reallot. Governors must set uniform rules so local areas use funds promptly and fair rules for sharing money if reallotment is needed.