Maryland

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Maryland PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Maryland PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Maryland

EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Unemployment Down to 3.5%: The unemployment rate in Maryland has declined from 6.4% to 3.5% since 1993.

327,400 New Jobs: 327,400 new jobs have been created in Maryland since 1993 -- an average of 43,174 per year, compared to an average loss of 11,900 jobs per year in the previous administration.

317,100 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 317,100 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 41,815 jobs per year, compared to an average loss of 14,225 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.

36,800 New Construction Jobs: 36,800 construction jobs have been created in Maryland since 1993 -- an average of 4,853 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 11,050 construction jobs were lost each year during the previous administration.

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 Maryland, the poverty rate has fallen from 9.7% in 1993 to 7.2% in 1999. [Census Bureau]

90,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 35,000 Maryland workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 55,000 more received an additional raise—from $4.75 to $5.15 -- on September 1, 1997. President Clinton and Vice President Gore have called on Congress to raise the minimum wage by an additional $1.00 over two years.

Business Failures Down 4.5% Per Year: Business failures have dropped an average of 4.5% per year since 1993, after increasing 41.6% per year during the previous administration [Oct. 98 data].

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 535,000 families in Maryland.

Homeownership Has Increased in Maryland: Homeownership in Maryland has increased from 65.8% to 69.6% since 1993.

Maryland's 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 Maryland 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

Nearly 10,000 Children in Head Start: 9,777 Maryland children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Maryland will receive $61.5 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $30.1 million over 1993.

More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Maryland's Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Maryland received $17.5 million in 1999 to hire about 450 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 Maryland an additional $18.9 million in 2000.

$7 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY00], Maryland receives $7 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]

$5.4 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY00], Maryland receives $5.4 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 21^st century.

$104.8 Million for Students Most in Need: Maryland receives $104.8 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 $1.8 million in accountability grants, to help states and school districts turn around the worst performing schools and hold them accountable for results.

$105.3 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY00], Maryland will receive $105.3 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, benefiting 54,789 Maryland 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. Maryland will receive $13.8 million in Work-Study funding in 2000 to help Maryland students work their way through college.

Nearly 5,400 Have Served in Maryland through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 5,395 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Maryland's schools, hospitals, neighborhoods or parks. [through 2/00]

Tuition Tax Credits to 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. 122,000 students in Maryland will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 150,000 students in Maryland will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]

Expanded Job Training to Maryland's Dislocated Workers: President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Maryland received $15.1 million in 1999 to help 8,960 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Maryland will receive over $16.8 million to provide job training for dislocated workers.

FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Violent Crime Falls 12% in Maryland: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Since 1992, serious crime in Maryland has fallen 6%. Violent crime and property crime have also declined 12% and 5% respectively. In Baltimore, serious crime, as indicated by the crime index, fell 14%, robbery declined 30%. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Index]

2,345 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 2,345 new police officers to date in communities across Maryland. [through 7/00]

Baltimore Will Receive Targeted Funding to Hire More Community Police: Baltimore was selected as a pilot city for the President's new effort to target high crime neighborhoods. The pilot program will provide full funding for new officers by waiving the usual matching requirements. Baltimore will deploy new officers to help meet the unique needs of its community, such as combating gangs or targeting drug "hot spots."

Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Maryland, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Annapolis and Baltimore. 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.

$38.4 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Maryland has received approximately $38.4 million in federal funds to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. [through 9/2000]

Over $1.1 Million in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Maryland received over $1.1 million in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

$6.6 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Maryland's Schools: Maryland received $6.6 million in FY00 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.

MOVING MARYLAND RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK

132,335 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 132,335 fewer people on welfare in Maryland now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 60% decrease. [through 6/99]

Child Support Collections Up 85%: Child support collections have increased by over $165 million—or 85% -- in Maryland since FY92. [through FY98]

Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Maryland: 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 19.2% in Maryland.

$40.1 Million for Maryland Welfare-to-Work: In 1998 and 1999, Maryland received a total of $28.8 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants, helping Maryland welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, in 1999 and 1998 a total of $11.3 million in competitive grants were awarded to Maryland 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, Maryland has received $598,500 this year to fund innovative transit projects. In addition to this funding, Annapolis, Baltimore, Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, and Prince George County have received a total of $2.12 million for these transportation projects.

INVESTING IN MARYLAND'S HEALTH

Health Care for Over 18,000 Uninsured Maryland 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 18,072 in Maryland. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]

Helping Over 93,000 Maryland 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, Maryland received $49.2 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 93,301 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 12,000 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 Maryland in 1998, 93% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 90% received the vaccine for polio; 89% received the vaccine for measles, and 92% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.

Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Maryland will receive $7.1 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, Maryland will receive over $16.5 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 40% in Maryland: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 40% in Maryland by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 50,200 of Maryland's youth will be kept from smoking and 16,100 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]

2,230,000 Americans in Maryland Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Maryland enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 2,230,000 people in Maryland 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, 1,130,000 Maryland 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.

CARING FOR OUR VETERANS

Invested Nearly $676 Million in Maryland's Veterans: President Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to caring for Maryland's 530,000 veterans. The Veterans Administration invested nearly $676 million in Maryland in 1999 alone. In 1999, 54,763 Maryland veterans received disability compensation or pension payments, more than 7,711 went to college on the GI Bill, and 19,506 bought a home using VA loan guarantees.

Providing Health Care for Maryland's Veterans: Since 1993, the VA health system has increased the number of patients treated every year by over 29 percent; treated 83 percent more homeless patients; organized approximately 1,300 sites of care delivery under 22 Veterans Integrated Service Networks; and established more than 250 new community-based outpatient clinics. In Maryland, the Baltimore, Fort Howard and Perry Point VA medical centers, and the Baltimore rehabilitation & extended care center, work together to form a comprehensive health care delivery system. Additionally, VA operates three outpatient clinics in Cambridge, Glen Burnie and Charlotte Hall. These clinics offer a full array of primary care services for veterans in the communities where they live and work. In 1999, 51,341 veterans received health care in Maryland's VA facilities.

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

$7.7 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Maryland will receive $7.7 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.

Superfund Clean-up Site in Harmans: Since 1993, the EPA completed a toxic waste site clean-up in Harmans, Maryland. [through 3/1/00]

Revitalizing Brownfields in Communities in Maryland: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to Maryland communities Baltimore and Hagerstown, as well as Baltimore County, for environmental clean-up and economic revitalization. These projects are intended to jump-start local clean-up efforts by providing funds to return unproductive, abandoned, contaminated urban properties to productive use.

Protecting the Chesapeake Bay: Maryland is receiving $170 million through the USDA's Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP), as well as $25 million from non-Federal sources, to help protect the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries. Up to 100,000 acres of environmentally-sensitive land along Maryland streams and rivers will be set aside and maintained to protect water quality, which will give Maryland citizens cleaner water, healthier fish, and a stronger environment. CREP is a new voluntary initiative where the Agriculture Department partners with State governments and local interests to address local environmental problems related to agriculture.

SPEARHEADING URBAN RENEWAL EFFORTS

Revitalizing Maryland's Communities: Baltimore was designated as an Empowerment Zone and was awarded $100 million to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for Baltimore residents.

Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 2,900 To 3,400 New Affordable Housing Units in Maryland 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 Maryland alone, this proposal would mean an additional 2,900 - 3,400 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.

PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF

$54.8 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Maryland has received $54.8 million in disaster relief. This includes $8.3 million due to damages caused by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. [FEMA, 2/29/00]

EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

Over $1.3 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Maryland has received over $1.3 billion in federal highway aid, including $4.8 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $2.5 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 57,970 jobs. [through FY99]

Over $85.3 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Maryland received over $85.3 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.