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Unemployment Down to 4.2%: The unemployment rate in Arkansas has
declined from 6.7% to 4.2% since 1993.
200,400 New Jobs: 200,400 new jobs have been created in Arkansas
since 1993 -- an average of 25,583 per year.
177,900 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 177,900 new private
sector jobs have been created in Arkansas -- an average of 22,711 jobs
per year, compared to an average of just 20,075 private sector jobs per
year in the previous administration.
17,700 New Construction Jobs: 17,700 construction jobs have been
created in Arkansas since 1993 -- an average of 2,284 jobs per year. In
contrast, an average of only 1,200 construction jobs were created each
year during the previous administration.
174,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 75,000 Arkansas
workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage -- from $4.25 to
$4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 99,000 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.
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
263,000 families in Arkansas.
Arkansas' 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 Arkansas 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.
1.4% Growth in Commercial and Industrial Loans and Leases: Since
1993, Arkansas has experienced a 1.4% annual growth rate in commercial
and industrial loans and leases. In contrast, commercial and industrial
loans and leases fell by an annual average of 4.4% during the previous
administration.
EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Over 10,000 Children in Head Start: 10,065 Arkansas children were
enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Arkansas will receive $48.8
million in Head Start funding, an increase of $21.4 million over 1993.
More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Arkansas's
Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Arkansas
received $11.6 million in 1999 to hire about 299 new, well-prepared
public school teachers and reduce class size in the early grades.
President Clinton secured funding for a second and third installment of
the plan, giving Arkansas $12.6 million in 2000 and $23.6 million in
2001.
$10.8 Million for School Repairs: President Clinton fought for and
won a new initiative to repair America's schools, providing $1.2 billion
in the FY 2001 budget for urgent school renovation. Arkansas will
receive $10.8 million in school renovation grants.
Over $4 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY01], Arkansas
receives more than $4.4 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
21st century.
$85.3 Million for Students Most in Need: Arkansas will receive
$85.3 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 [FY01].
Turning Around Failing Schools: Arkansas will receive $2.3 million
in Title I Accountability Grants in 2001. President Clinton created the
accountability fund to help turn around the worst performing schools
through such measures as overhauling curriculum, improving staffing, or
even closing schools and reopening them as charter schools.
$95.3 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY01], Arkansas will
receive $95.3 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to
college.
Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through
College: Arkansas will receive $7.7 million in Work-Study funding in
2001 to help Arkansas students work their way through college.
Over 1,580 Have Served in Arkansas through AmeriCorps: Since the
National Service program began in 1993, 1,582 AmeriCorps participants
have earned money for college while working in Arkansas'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. 41,000 students in Arkansas will
receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 50,000 students
in Arkansas will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully
phased-in FY2000 estimate]
Expanded Job Training to Arkansas' Dislocated Workers: President
Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers
program over 1992 levels. Arkansas received $9.7 million in 1999 to
help 5,750 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services
they need to return to work as quickly as possible. And in FY 2000,
Arkansas will receive another $12.3 million to provide job training for
dislocated workers.
FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE
Violent Crime Falls 4% in Arkansas: Under the Clinton-Gore
Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in
crime on record. Since 1992, violent crime has fallen 4% statewide. In
Little Rock, between 1992 and 1997, serious crime, as indicated by the
crime index, has fallen 20%, with a 39% decline in murder and 29% drop
in robbery. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]
Juvenile Arrests Down in Arkansas: Arkansas's juvenile murder
arrests have decreased 59% between 1992 and 1997. [FBI, Uniform Crime
Report, 1992 and 1997]
1,226 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,226
new police officers to date in communities across Arkansas. [through
1/01]
Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related
crime in Arkansas, the Clinton Administration has awarded a Drug Court
grant to the community of Little Rock. 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.
$15.2 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence
Against Women Act, Arkansas has received approximately $15.2 million in
federal funds to establish more women's shelters and bolster law
enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. [through 9/2000]
Nearly $549,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99,
Arkansas received $549,000 in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program
grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
$4.1 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Arkansas' Schools:
Arkansas receives $4.1 million in FY01 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools
Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.
MOVING ARKANSANS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
44,632 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 44,632 fewer people on
welfare in Arkansas now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a
60% decrease. [through 6/99]
Encouraging Responsible Choices -- Preventing Teen Pregnancy in
Arkansas: 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 pregnancy rates declined
8.6% in Arkansas.
Child Support Collections Up 139%: Child support collections have
increased by $59 million -- or 139% -- in Arkansas since FY92. [through
FY98]
$23.8 Million for Arkansas Welfare-to-Work: In 1998 and 1999,
Arkansas received a total of over $16.4 million in Federal
welfare-to-work state formula grants, helping Arkansas welfare
recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, in 1999 and 1998 a total of
$7.4 million in competitive grants were awarded to Arkansas 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. Little Rock and Pine
Bluff have received a total of $508,500 this year to fund innovative
transit projects.
INVESTING IN ARKANSAS' HEALTH
Health Care for Nearly One Thousand Uninsured Children in Arkansas:
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 913 in Arkansas. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration,
FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]
Helping Over 82,000 Arkansas 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,
Arkansas received $46.2 million in total WIC grant funding, helping
82,825 women, infants and children in need receive health and food
assistance. [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 Arkansas in 1998, 89% of
two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis;
90% received the vaccine for polio; 88% received the vaccine for
measles, and 89% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the
bacteria causing a form of meningitis.
Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Arkansas will
receive $1.6 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, Arkansas will receive $2.1 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 42% in
Arkansas: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with
the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking
and resulting premature deaths 42% in Arkansas by 2004. Between 2000
and 2004, 14,800 of Arkansas's youth will be kept from smoking and 9,700
will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]
1,000,000 Americans in Arkansas Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient
Protections: Even if Arkansas enacted all the protections in the
Patients' Bill of Rights, 1,000,000 people in Arkansas 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, 500,000
Arkansas 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 $708 Million in Arkansas' Veterans: President
Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to caring for Arkansas'
246,000 veterans. The Veterans Administration invested nearly $708
million in Arkansas in 1999 alone. In 1999, 36,700 Arkansas veterans
received disability compensation or pension payments, more than 3,090
went to college on the GI Bill, and 3,080 bought a home using VA loan
guarantees.
Providing Health Care for Arkansas' 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 Arkansas, the VA operates major medical centers
in Little Rock and Fayetteville. The Central Arkansas Veterans
Healthcare System (CAVHS), located in Little Rock and North Little Rock,
offers a broad spectrum of inpatient and outpatient health-care
services, and also operates two community-based outpatient clinics in
Mountain Home and El Dorado with plans for opening two more in Hot
Springs and Mena. In 1999, more than 65,000 veterans received health
care in Arkansas' VA facilities.
PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT
6 Toxic Waste Sites Cleaned Up: Since 1993, the EPA has completed 6
Superfund toxic waste cleanups in Arkansas -- in Omaha, Edmondson, Ola,
and three in Jacksonville. This is double the number of sites cleaned
up in Arkansas during the previous two administrations. [through 3/1/00]
$11 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00],
thanks to President Clinton, Arkansas will receive $11 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.
SPEARHEADING URBAN AND RURAL RENEWAL EFFORTS
Revitalizing Arkansas' Communities: Little Rock/ Pulaski County,
East Central, and Mississippi County were all designated Enterprise
Communities in December, 1994 and were awarded $3 million each to create
more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for area residents. In
1999, Little Rock/North Little Rock was named a Strategic Planning
Community.
Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 1,900
To 2,300 New Affordable Housing Units in Arkansas 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 Arkansas alone, this proposal would mean
an additional 1,900 - 2,300 quality rental housing units for low-income
American families during the next five years.
PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
$71.5 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Arkansas
has received $71.5 million in disaster relief. This includes $107.2
million in assistance to recover from Hurricane Opal, which occurred in
October of 1995. [FEMA, 2/29/00]
EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
Over $1.3 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Arkansas has
received over $1.3 billion in federal highway aid, including $2.1
million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters. These
funds have helped generate 59,442 jobs. [through FY99]
Over $68.7 Million in Transit Funding: Since 1993, Arkansas has
received over $68.7 million in Federal Transit Funding.
Over $136 Million in Airport Improvement Program Funds: From
FY93-FY99 Arkansas received over $136 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.
Saving Lives and Property: In 1997, the United States Coast Guard
saved 5 lives in Arkansas.