THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
The 1999 Democratic Agenda: Families First
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| | | Continue on the path of fiscal responsibility by investing the |
| surplus to save Social Security and Medicare and pay down the debt | | to keep our economy growing. Act now to meet the challenges of the | | 21st century, including quality education for children and secure | | retirement and quality care for seniors. Enable families to meet |
| their responsibilities at home and at work. | | |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
Invest the Surplus to save Social Security and Medicare and Pay Down the Debt
Save Social Security: Reserve 62 percent of the projected budget
surplus to preserve Social Security until 2055. Allow the trust
fund to invest about one-fifth of the transferred surpluses in the
private sector to achieve higher returns for Social Security just
as any state or local government, or private pension does. Work
to achieve a broad consensus for reforms necessary to extend Social
Security to at least 2075, while reducing poverty among elderly
widows, and eliminating the earnings limit.
Strengthen Medicare for the 21st Century: Reserve 15 percent of
the projected surpluses for Medicare, ensuring that the Medicare
Trust Fund is secure for 20 years. Work to enact further changes
to strengthen and modernize the Medicare program, including adding
prescription drug benefits.
Pay Down the Debt: Invest 77% of the surplus into Social Security
and Medicare to reduce the debt to its lowest level since 1917 and
save taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars in interest charges.
Quality Education: Modernize Schools, Reduce Class Size, and Provide Accountability
School Modernization: Federal tax credits will enable states and
school districts to modernize and renovate 6,000 local public
schools, to improve learning conditions, end overcrowding and make
room for smaller classes.
Smaller Classes: Finish the job of hiring 100,000 new teachers
over the next seven years to reduce class size in grades 1-3 to a
national average of 18, making sure that every child gets a solid
foundation in the basics.
Build Accountability Measures into federal support for education
to ensure that school districts and states provide every student
with a high quality education, building on proven reforms now
being implemented in states and cities.
Teacher Training and Recruitment: Increase support for teacher
training in subject-matter knowledge and teaching expertise;
establish new incentives to recruit highly qualified teachers.
Education Technology: Continue to provide schools with Internet
capacity and resources for teacher training and integrating
technology into the curricula; protect the e-rate discount for
schools and libraries and new teacher training.
Enable Families to Succeed at Home and at Work
Protecting Patients through a Strong, Enforceable Patients Bill of
Rights: The Patients' Bill of Rights should contain a range of
protections, including guaranteed access to needed specialists,
access to emergency room services, access to a meaningful
independent and external appeals process, and the right to be
compensated.
Continue to Expand Access to Quality, Affordable Health Care by
enabling Americans age 62-65 and displaced and retired workers
ages 55 to 65 to buy into Medicare if they lose coverage.
Ensure Opportunity for Americans with Disabilities by enabling
workers with disabilities to buy into Medicaid and Medicare, a
$1000 tax credit, to help the working disabled and support for
assistive technologies.
Child Care: Improve the accessibility and safety of child care
through expansion of the child care and development block grant to
help working families and improve quality by increased training
and support services for care givers.
After School Care: Increase after school care to enable 1.1
million children each year to participate in after school and
summer school programs that give them additional learning time
and keep them safe and off the streets.
Secure Retirement for Seniors and Protect Pensions
Expand Pension Benefit Coverage: Create a new plan that will make
it easier for small businesses to start private pension plans that
provide predictable and secure benefits, and for employees to save
in IRAs through payroll deductions. Permit employees to rollover
benefits from different types of retirement plans.
Strengthen Women's Retirement Security: Allow workers to count
time taken under the Family and Medical Leave Act toward their
retirement benefits and require pension plans to let families
choose joint and survivor annuity options.
Targeted Tax Cuts for Retirement Savings, Child Care, and Long Term Care
Retirement Savings: Devote 12% of the surplus to USA Accounts,
enabling working families to save for their own retirement in
private accounts.
Child Care: Provide greater tax relief for working families who
pay child care expenses, tax credits to businesses that provide
child care services, and tax credits for stay at home parents.
Long Term Care: Provide $1,000 tax credits for elderly and
disabled individuals needing long-term care and the family members
who care for them; provide support services to caregivers and
offer long term care insurance to federal employees.
50,000 More Cops with 21st Century Tools
More Police on the Streets: Help communities put up to 50,000
more law enforcement officers on the beat over five years, and
help state and local enforcement agencies communicate more
effectively and use modern technology to solve crimes.
Raise the Minimum Wage and Enforce Fair Pay
Raise the Minimum Wage: Recognize the value of work and support
working families; give millions of Americans a pay raise by
increasing the minimum wage.
Ensure Equal Pay: Help guarantee equal pay for women and men by
stronger enforcement of equal pay laws, ending wage discrimination,
and improving access to wage information for all workers.
Protect the Environment and Improve Livability
Protect Our Environment and our families' safety by ensuring clean
air and safe food; strengthening clean water protections;
continuing accelerated toxic waste clean up and making polluters
pay; and spurring new environmental technologies through targeted
tax cuts; providing lasting protection for national parks and
other natural treasures.
Help Build Livable Communities: Provide new tools and resources
to help communities across America reduce traffic congestion,
preserve green space, and grow in ways that ensure a high quality
of life and strong, sustainable economic growth.
Crackdown on Crimes Against Seniors
Give Law Enforcement Officials Additional Tools to prosecute
criminals who target seniors, such as through telemarketing
schemes.
Reduce Unnecessary and Illegal Medicare Costs by cracking down
on fraud and abuse in the Medicare system.
Privacy
Protect Individuals' most personal records by ensuring appropriate
treatment for medical records, addressing abusive practices such
as pretext calling for financial records and enhancing enforcement
of existing laws.
###