Limiting TEA configurations to census tracts would negatively
impact approximately 15 states that currently utilize block
groups, with states such as Texas, Utah, and Washington seeing
many TEA opportunities disappear. Furthermore, restrictions
like those in the bill would no longer allow for the use of other
currently used geographic and political subdivisions such as
census designated places in California, wards in the District of
Columbia, and city community areas in Chicago, all of which
are compiled using the same approved federal methodologies.
State Designation Authority
Removing TEA authorization from the states and shifting
the authority to Homeland Security’s USCIS could very well
have dire consequences, but this major procedural change
seemed to receive very little attention. State labor market
information people have the technical expertise and know
their local economies. They are best positioned to determine
what constraints should be put on TEA formation within their
states. USCIS staff does not have the same technical expertise
to evaluate thousands of TEA requests and make the proper
determinations. Unlike in states where turnaround times
are usually a matter of days or weeks and in the worst case
scenarios a month or slightly longer, USCIS will not likely be
able to meet any reasonable mandated processing times and
we would probably be looking at a year or longer for a final
determination to be made. This means that investors may not
know for a year or more if a project will ultimately qualify as a
TEA. USCIS should continue to defer to state determinations
of the appropriate boundaries of a geographic or political
subdivision that constitutes the TEA. However, USCIS can
have final authority and should still ensure compliance with
the statutory requirement by reviewing state determinations of
the unemp loyment rate and assessing the method by which the
state authority obtained the unemployment statistics.
Outlying Counties
The new concept of an ‘outlying county’ as a rural TEA was
another inclusion that seemed to receive no opposition, as
it would be beneficial to some special rural interest groups
and would have no detrimental impact on urban TEAs.
Outlying counties within an MSA have one-quarter or more
of its employed residents working in the central counties of
Continued to page 14
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