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PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Massachusetts
PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S
ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Massachusetts
EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
- Unemployment Down to 2.6%:
The unemployment rate in Massachusetts has declined from 7.5% to 2.6% since 1993.
- 469,000 New Jobs:
469,000 new jobs have been created in Massachusetts since 1993 -- an average of 61,846 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 81,775 jobs were lost each year during the previous administration.
- 430,900 New Private Sector Jobs:
Since 1993, 430,900 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 56,822 jobs per year, compared to an average loss of 74,200 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.
- 49,800 New Construction Jobs:
49,800 construction jobs have been created in Massachusetts since 1993 -- an average of 6,567 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 14,175 construction jobs were lost each year during the previous administration.
- 91,000 Have Received a Raise:
Approximately 91,000 Massachusetts workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have called on Congress to raise the minimum wage by an additional $1.00 over two years.
- A $500 Child Tax Credit to Help Families Raising Children:
To help make it easier for families to raise their children, the balanced budget included a $500 per-child tax credit for children under 17. Thanks to President Clinton, the Balanced Budget delivers a child tax credit to 580,000 families in Massachusetts.
- Poverty Has Fallen:
Nationally, the poverty rate has fallen from 15.1% in 1993 to 11.8% in 1999, the lowest level since 1979. In Massachusetts, the poverty rate has fallen to 10.2% in 1999. [Census Bureau]
- Business Failures Down 14.5%:
Business failures have dropped 14.5% per year since 1993, after increasing nearly 53% per year during the previous four years [Oct. 98 data].
- Home Sales Up 10.9%:
Existing home sales in Massachusetts have increased by 10.9% per year since 1993, after decreasing by 4.6% each year during the previous four years.
- Home Building Up 1.2%:
Home building in Massachusetts has increased by an average of 1.2% per year since 1993, after falling over 14.3% per year during the previous administration.
- Massachusetts' Families Reap Benefits of Deficit Reduction:
Public debt is on track to be $2.4 trillion lower in 2000 than was projected in 1993. Debt reduction brings real benefits for the American people -- a family in Massachusetts with a home mortgage of $100,000 might expect to save roughly $2,000 per year in mortgage payments. Reduced debt also means lower interest rates and reduced payments on car loans and student loans
EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
- Over 12,000 Children in Head Start:
12,094 Massachusetts children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Massachusetts will receive $87.4 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $37.5 million over 1993.
- More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Massachusetts' Schools:
Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Massachusetts received $22.4 million in 1999 to hire about 577 new, well-prepared public school teachers and reduce class size in the early grades. President Clinton secured funding for a second installment of the plan, giving Massachusetts an additional $24.3 million in 2000.
- Nearly $9 Million in Goals 2000 Funding:
This year [FY00], Massachusetts receives $8.9 million in Goals 2000 funding. This money is used to raise academic achievement by raising academic standards, increasing parental and community involvement in education, expanding the use of computers and technology in classrooms, and supporting high-quality teacher professional development. [Education Department, 12/3/99]
- Nearly $8 Million for Technology Literacy:
This year [FY00], Massachusetts receives $7.9 million for the Technology Literacy Challenge Fund which helps communities and the private sector ensure that every student is equipped with the computer literacy skills needed for the 21st century.
- $156.1 Million for Students Most in Need:
Massachusetts receives $156.1 million in Title I Grants (to Local Educational Agencies) providing extra help in the basics for students most in need, particularly communities and schools with high concentrations of children in low-income families [FY00]. This includes $2.6 million in accountability grants, to help states and school districts turn around the worst performing schools and hold them accountable for results.
- $143 Million in Pell Grants:
This year [FY00], Massachusetts will receive $143 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, benefiting 71,943 Massachusetts students.
- Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College:
The FY00 budget includes a significant expansion of the Federal Work Study program. Massachusetts will receive $45 million in Work-Study funding in 2000 to help Massachusetts students work their way through college.
- Over 5,900 Have Served in Massachusetts through AmeriCorps:
Since the National Service program began in 1993, 5,913 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Massachusetts's schools, hospitals, neighborhoods or parks. [through 2/00]
- Tuition Tax Credits in Balanced Budget Open the Doors of College and Promote Lifelong Learning:
The balanced budget included both President Clinton's $1,500 HOPE Scholarship to help make the first two years of college as universal as a high school diploma and a Lifetime Learning Tax Credit for college juniors, seniors, graduate students and working Americans pursuing lifelong learning to upgrade their skills. This 20% tax credit will be applied to the first $5,000 of tuition and fees through 2002 and to the first $10,000 thereafter. 161,000 students in Massachusetts will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 198,000 students in Massachusetts will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]
- Expanded Job Training to Massachusetts' Dislocated Workers:
President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Massachusetts received $14.6 million in 1999 to help 8,660 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Massachusetts will receive $13.6 million to provide job training for dislocated workers.
FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE
- Crime Falls 25% in Massachusetts:
Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. In 1992, serious crime in Massachusetts has fallen 25%. Violent crime and property crime have also declined 16% and 27% respectively. In Boston, serious crime, as indicated by the crime index, has fallen 33%, in addition to a 41% drop in murder and 43% decline in robbery. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]
- Juvenile Arrests Down in Massachusetts:
Massachusetts's juvenile murder arrests have decreased 50% between 1992 and 1997. [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997]
- 2,901 More Police:
The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 2,901 new police officers to date in communities across Massachusetts. [through 7/00]
- Reducing Crime with Drug Courts:
Working to reduce drug-related crime in Massachusetts, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Framingham, Haverhill and Franklin County. The Administration had previously awarded grants to a number of Massachusetts communities including: Worcester, Lawrence, Lynn, Salem, Boston and Farmington. Drug courts use the coercive power of the criminal justice system to combine drug testing, sanctions, supervision and treatment to push nonviolent, drug-abusing offenders to stop using drugs and committing crimes.
- $33.6 Million to Combat Domestic Violence:
Through the Violence Against Women Act, Massachusetts has received approximately $33.6 million in federal funds to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. And in October 1999, Tufts University was awarded nearly $400,000 to help address sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking on campus. [through 9/2000]
- Over $1.3 Million in Grants for Battered Women and Children:
In FY99, Massachusetts received $1.3 million in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse, an additional $225,500 increase over FY97.
- $8.5 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Massachusetts' Schools:
Massachusetts receives approximately $8.5 million in FY00 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.
MOVING MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
- 208,111 Fewer People on Welfare:
There are 208,111 fewer people on welfare in Massachusetts now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 63% decrease. [through 6/99]
- Child Support Collections Up 50%:
Child support collections have increased by $93 million—or 20% -- in Massachusetts since FY92. [through FY98]
- Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Massachusetts:
Since 1993, President Clinton and Vice President Gore have supported innovative and promising teen pregnancy prevention strategies, with significant components of the strategy becoming law in the 1996 Personal Responsibility Act. The law requires unmarried minor parents to stay in school and live at home or in a supervised setting; encourages "second chance homes" to provide teen parents with the skills and support they need; and provides $50 million a year in new funding for state abstinence education activities. Efforts are making a difference, adolescent pregnancy rates and teen abortion rates are declining. And between 1991 and 1997, teen birth rates declined 16.1% in Massachusetts.
- $49.4 Million for Massachusetts Welfare-to-Work:
In 1998 and 1999, Massachusetts received a total of $39.9 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants, helping Massachusetts welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, in 1999 and 1998 a total of $9.5 million in competitive grants were awarded to Massachusetts localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies. Part of the President's comprehensive efforts to move recipients from welfare to work, this funding was included in the $3 billion welfare to work fund in the 1997 Balanced Budget Act.
- Helping People Get to Work
: Through the Access to Jobs initiative, the Clinton-Gore Administration is working with communities across the country to design transportation solutions to help welfare recipients and other low-income workers get to and from work. Statewide, Massachusetts has received $1.4 million to fund innovative transit projects. In addition to this funding, Boston, Lawrence, Haverhill, Springfield, and Worcester have received a total of $2.55 million for these projects.
INVESTING IN MASSACHUSETTS' HEALTH
- Health Care for Nearly 68,000 Uninsured Massachusetts Children:
In 1997, President Clinton passed the largest single investment in health care for children since 1965 -- an unprecedented $24 billion over five years to cover as many as five million children throughout the nation. This investment guarantees the full range of benefits that children need to grow up strong and healthy. Two million children nationwide have health care coverage thanks to the President's plan, including 67,852 in Massachusetts. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]
- Helping Over 115,000 Massachusetts Women and Children with WIC:
The Clinton Administration is committed to full funding in the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). In FY99, Massachusetts received $57.4 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 115,800 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 7,000 more than in 1994. [through 8/99]
- More Toddlers Are Being Immunized:
As a result of the President's 1993 Childhood Immunization Initiative, childhood immunization rates have reached an historic high. According to the CDC, 90% or more of America's toddlers received the most critical doses of each of the routinely recommended vaccines in 1996, 1997, and again in 1998 —surpassing the President's 1993 goal. In Massachusetts in 1998, 98% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 94% received the vaccine for polio; 96% received the vaccine for measles, and 98% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.
- Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs:
In FY 2000, Massachusetts will receive nearly $4.8 million in Ryan White Title II formula grants. This funding provides people living with HIV and AIDS medical and support services. Also through the Ryan White Act, Massachusetts will receive over $10.3 million for state AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAPs), which help those without insurance obtain much needed prescription drugs. There has been a tenfold increase in ADAP funding in the last four years, up from $52 million in 1996 to $528 million in 2000. [HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration, 4/7/00]
- Tobacco Plan Will Cut Smoking and Premature Deaths by 33% in Massachusetts:
The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 33% in Massachusetts by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 50,600 of Massachusetts's youth will be kept from smoking and 16,200 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]
- 3,300,000 Americans in Massachusetts Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections:
Even if Massachusetts enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 3,300,000 people in Massachusetts cannot be assured they have the comprehensive patient protections recommended by the President's Advisory Commission. This is because the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) may preempt state-enacted protections. That is why the President has called on Congress to pass a federally enforceable patients' bill of rights so that everyone enrolled in managed care may have a basic set of protections. Notably, 1,600,000 Massachusetts women are in ERISA health plans and are therefore not necessarily protected. Women are particularly vulnerable without these protections because they are greater users of health care services, they make three-quarters of the health care decisions for their families, and they have specific health care needs addressed by a patients' bill of rights.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
- $30 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding:
This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Massachusetts will receive $30 million for the Drinking Water State Revolving Funds to provide low-interest loans to municipalities to build, improve, and prevent pollution of drinking water systems.
- 7 Superfund Sites Cleaned Up:
Since 1993, the EPA has completed 7 Superfund toxic waste clean-ups in Massachusetts. The sites are located in Westborough, Norwood, Salem, Dartmouth, Lanesboro, Palmer, and Tyngsborough. This is three and a half times as many sites cleaned up than the previous two administrations combined. [through 3/1/00]
- Revitalizing Brownfields in Massachusetts:
As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to communities in Massachusetts—Chicopee, Greenfield, Lawrence, Lowell, Worcester, Boston, Westfield, Somerville, New Bedford, Brockton, Chelsea, Colrain, Mansfield, Methuen, Pioneer Valley, Springfield, Lynn, and Malden, Medford, and Everett—for environmental clean-up and economic revitalization. In addition, the Montachusett Regional Planning Commission, encompassing 22 communities in north-central Massachusetts, and the State of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection will also receive Brownfields grants. These projects are intended to jump-start local clean-up efforts by providing funds to return unproductive, abandoned, contaminated urban properties to productive use.
SPEARHEADING URBAN RENEWAL EFFORTS
- Revitalizing Massachusetts' Communities:
In December 1994, Boston, Lowell, and Springfield were designated Enterprise Communities, and were each awarded $3 million to create jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for its residents. Boston was later declared an Enhanced Enterprise Community, and was awarded an additional $25 million. In 1999, Boston was also named a New Urban Empowerment Zone.
- Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 4,900 To 5,800 New Affordable Housing Units in Massachusetts Over the Next 5 Years:
Last year, the President and Vice President pushed for a 40-percent expansion in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. This year, the President and Vice President will try again to enact tax incentives to develop affordable housing. In Massachusetts alone, this proposal would mean an additional 4,900 - 5,800 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.
PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
- $134.5 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance:
Since 1993, Massachusetts has received $134.5 million in disaster relief. This includes $13.4 million due to damages caused by heavy rains and flooding in 1998 and over $2 million in assistance after the Worcester fire in 1999. [FEMA, 2/29/00]
EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
- Nearly $2.7 Billion in Federal Highway Aid:
Since 1993, Massachusetts has received nearly $2.7 billion in federal highway aid, including $1.6 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 111,375 jobs. [through FY99]
- Over $137 Million in Aviation Funds:
From FY93-FY99 Massachusetts received over $137 million in Airport Improvement Program funds to help build and renovate airports, and, when necessary, to provide funds for noise abatement to improve the quality of life for residents who live near airports.
- Over $1.3 Billion in Transit Funds:
Since 1993, Massachusetts has received over $1.3 billion in Federal Transit Funding. On October 21, 1997, the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority ("T" or "MTA") celebrated their One Hundredth Anniversary. FTA memorabilia was placed in a time capsule which will be opened in the year 2097.
- Saving Lives and Property:
In 1999, the United States Coast Guard saved 183 lives and over $40.1 million of property in Massachusetts.
October 2000
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