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at least maintain this level for the remainder of Fiscal Year 1976. This is not intended to preclude the Department from entering into contracts with organizations such as those serving minority groups seeking to operate new Older American jobs programs. It remains the conferees' intent that this program be handled primarily through national contracts, rather than through prime sponsors.

Action Taken:

Congress appropriated $30 million in the continuing resolution for Fiscal
Year 1976, which added to the $12,000,000 appropriated in Fiscal Year 1975, made
$42,000,000 available in total for the continuation of the ongoing Senior
Community Service Employment Program.

This amount was adequate to continue the program level achieved in Fiscal Year 1975 and to assure that no State would receive less than the amount received in Fiscal Year 1975 under title III of P.L. 93-203, as required by the continuing resolution P.L. 94-41. Due to increases in the minimum wage and generally higher costs of operations, the amount available was not sufficient to provide for increases in the program level.

We recognize that in the debate on the continuing resolution, the Chairman's intention and the intent of other members of Congress was to provide for some program increases through application of the title IX formula, where the formula would have provided a higher level of operation than the current level. The Chairman also indicated in his statement of June 19 that the continuing resolution did not preclude the Department from entering into contracts with organizations seeking to operate new Older American job programs, and at the same time, emphasized that national contracts should receive priority in funding. Clearly, the Department could not provide for program increases, enter into agreements with new sponsors and maintain funding of existing national contractors with the funds available. What the Department did do was to maintain the current level of 12,400 job slots through Fiscal Year 1976. Now that a new Older Americans Act has been passed by Congress and signed by the President, the Department will be guided by the allocation formula established by the Act. At this point in time, the Department is in compliance with the new Act in that the allocation formula calls for maintaining the existing national programs at their present level as the first priority.

In the event that additional resources become available, the Department will distribute such additional resources in accordance with the intent of Congress.

1973 1974

1,549,416,000 1,549,416,000 1,549,416,000 1,549,416,000 1,798,584,000 2,048,584,000 2,546,584,000 2,265,584,000 1975 2,457,100,000 2,908,050,000 1/2,777,450,0001/ 2,852,450,000 1/ 2,394,400,000 2,388,400,000 2,394,400,000 2,388,400,000

1976

1/ Excludes $15,300,000 transferred to the Community Services Administration

67-529 76-4

1/ Includes $2,000,000 in new budget authority for activities authorized under the Trade Act of 1974.

2/ Excludes estimated reimbursements of $350,000.

3/ Excludes supplemental budget requests for Fiscal Years 1976 and 1977 proposed for later transmittal. The $67,444,000 is unobligated Fiscal Year 1975 funds available for obligation through September 30, 1975.

4/ Excludes $70,000 of Technical Assistance and Training funds to be transferred to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in Fiscal Year 1977.

This activity provides Federal financial assistance to qualified State and local governmental units called prime sponsors and to Indian tribes who design and operate comprehensive employment and training assistance programs as authorized by title I and II of the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of 1973, as amended.

Programs and services authorized under title I can include the institutional and on-the-job training, work experience, vocational education, job placement services and transitional public service employment.

Eighty percent of the total funds appropriated for title I is allocated to eligible prime sponsors in accordance with the following formula:

⭑ 50 percent is distributed based on the sponsor's proportionate
share of funds allocated in the previous fiscal year.

⭑ 37.5 percent is distributed on the basis of the number of
unemployed in the sponsor's area compared with the total number
of unemployed in all prime sponsor jurisdictions.

12.5 percent is distributed based on the proportion of adults
in low-income families residing in prime sponsor's area.

The remaining twenty percent of title I funds is used as follows:

Title II of the Act authorizes programs of transitional public service employment and training in areas which have a rate of unemployment of 6.5 percent or more for three consecutive months.

Eighty percent of the total funds appropriated for title II is allocated to prime sponsors qualified under title I in accordance with the number of unemployed residing in areas of substantial unemployment within their jurisdiction compared to the number of unemployed residing in all such areas. The remaining twenty percent of the title II funds is distributed by the Secretary at his discretion, taking into account the severity of unemployment within eligible areas.