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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release August 10, 1999

                    VICE PRESIDENT AL GORE ANNOUNCES 
                 GRANTS TO SPEED UP ELECTRONIC FILING OF
                            UNEMPLOYMENT CLAIMS

     Washington, D.C. - Vice President Al Gore announced today

$9 million in grants from the U.S. Department of Labor to 13 states for the development of more efficient means of filing Unemployment Insurance claims. The grants will enable individuals to file their initial Unemployment Insurance claims via the telephone or Internet.

"Streamlining this process will help us provide better support for American families while they are on the road to getting back to work," Vice President Gore said. "Bringing greater efficiency to states' unemployment insurance processes is a responsibility that we have to all Americans who have lost their jobs."

Six states are receiving a total of $5.6 million, provided under the Department of Labor, to automate telephone systems and eight states are receiving a total of $3.4 million to develop Internet systems.

The six states awarded grants to develop their automated telephone systems are: Alabama, $1 million; Kentucky, $1 million; Michigan, $1 million; Nebraska, $861,276; New Mexico, $1 million; and Wyoming, $751,000.

The eight states awarded grants to develop their Internet filing systems are: Idaho, $391,781; Kentucky, $500,000; Minnesota, $500,000; Missouri, $500,000; New Hampshire, $321,896; New Jersey, $276,807; Rhode Island, $397,240; and Utah, $500,000.

"This is the fourth year we have awarded grants to states that are making use of the new technology that will take us into the new millennium," Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman said. "We have received good reports from states already using automated systems and users like the convenience and privacy."

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