Clinton-Gore Administration Accomplishments for Louisiana

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EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Unemployment Down to 4.8%: The unemployment rate in Louisiana has declined from 7.6% to 4.8% since 1993.
263,000 New Jobs: 263,000 new jobs have been created in Louisiana since 1993 -- an average of 37,129 per year, compared to an average of just 31,325 jobs per year in the previous administration.
233,400 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 233,400 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 32,951 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 23,475 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.
35,300 New Construction Jobs: 35,300 construction jobs have been created in Louisiana since 1993 -- an average of 4,984 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of only 3,850 construction jobs were created each year during the previous administration.
309,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 142,000 Louisiana workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 167,000 more received an additional raise—from $4.75 to $5.15 -- on September 1, 1997.
Poverty Has Fallen: Nationally, the poverty rate has fallen from 15.1% in 1993 to 12.7% in 1998. In Louisiana, the poverty rate has fallen from 26.4% in 1993 to 17.7% in 1998 --down 8.7% under President Clinton. [Census Bureau]
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 445,000 families in Louisiana.
Business Failures and Bankruptcy Filings Down: Business failures have dropped 13.9% per year since 1993, after increasing 16.8% per year during the previous 12 years. Additionally, bankruptcy filings have declined 10.0% per year since 1993, after increasing 8.3% during the previous two administrations [Oct. 98 data].
Home Building Up 7.8%: New home building has increased 7.8% per year since 1993, after falling an average of 6% per year during the previous 12 years.
Over $25,000 of Reduced Federal Debt for Every Family of Four: The national debt will b be $1.7 trillion lower in FY99 than projected in 1993 -- that's $25,000 less debt for each family of four in Louisiana this year.
EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Over 20,700 Children in Head Start: 20,703 Louisiana children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Louisiana will receive $112.6 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $49.6 million over 1993.
More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Louisiana's Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Louisiana received $29.5 million in 1999 to hire about 758 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 Louisiana an additional $31.9 million in 2000.
$9.7 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY00], Louisiana receives $9.7 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]
$10.2 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY00], Louisiana receives $10.2 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.
$194.5 Million for Students Most in Need: Louisiana receives $194.5 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 $3.3 million in accountability grants, to help states and school districts turn around the worst performing schools and hold them accountable for results.
$174.4 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY00], Louisiana will receive $174.4 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, benefiting 77,998 Louisiana 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. Louisiana will receive $15.3 million in Work-Study funding in 2000 to help Louisiana students work their way through college.
Over 2,500 Have Served in Louisiana through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 2,598 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Louisiana'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. 70,000 students in Louisiana will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500, and 83,000 students in Louisiana will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]
Expanded Job Training to Louisiana's Dislocated Workers: Thanks to President Clinton, the FY99 budget includes a significant expansion in the dislocated worker program. Louisiana will receive $25.5 million in 1999 to help 15,080 of Louisiana's dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible.
FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Violent Crime Falls 12% in Louisiana: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Since 1992, violent crime in Louisiana has declined 12%. In Louisiana's cities, serious crime, as indicated by the crime index, has fallen 22% in Baton Rouge, 9% in New Orleans and 5% in Shreveport. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]
1,883 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,883 new police officers to date in communities across Louisiana. [through 1/00]
Monroe Will Receive Targeted Funding to Hire More Community Police: Monroe 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. Monroe 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 Louisiana, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Alexandria, Gretna, Franklin, and New Orleans. The Administration had previously awarded grants to a number of Louisiana communities including: Baton Rouge, Houma, Harvey, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Leesville, Mansfield, Monroe, New Iberia, Vidalia and Thibideaux.. 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.
Over $13 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Louisiana has received over $13 million in federal funds since FY95 to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. And in October 1999, Tulane University was awarded $500,000 to help address sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking on campus. [through FY99]
Over $950,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Louisiana received over $950,000 in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
Nearly $9 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Louisiana's Schools: Louisiana receives $8.9 million in FY00 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.
MOVING LOUISIANA RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK

162,761 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 162,761 fewer people on welfare in Louisiana now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 62% decrease. [through 6/99]
Child Support Collections Up 102%: Child support collections have been increased by over $86 million—or 102% -- in Louisiana since FY92. [through FY98]
Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Louisiana: 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 12.9% in Louisiana.
$114.5 Million for Louisiana Welfare-to-Work: In 1998 and 1999, Louisiana received a total of $67.9 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants (the state matched $34 million in funding), helping Louisiana welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In 1998 and 1999, a total of $12.6 million in competitive grants were awarded to Louisiana 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, Louisiana has received $1.23 million this year to fund innovative transit projects. In addition to this funding, New Orleans, Jefferson Parish and Baton Rouge have received a total of $837,364 for these transportation projects.
INVESTING IN LOUISIANA'S HEALTH

Health Care for Over 21,500 Uninsured Louisiana 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 21,580 in Louisiana. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]
Helping Over 136,000 Louisiana 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, Louisiana received $78.7 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 136,029 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 17,000 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 Louisiana in 1998, 94% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 91% received the vaccine for polio; 88% received the vaccine for measles, and 93% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.
Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Louisiana will receive nearly $5.4 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, Louisiana will receive nearly $9.3 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 45% in Louisiana: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 45% in Louisiana by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 68,500 of Louisiana's youth will be kept from smoking and 21,900 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]
1,700,000 Americans in Louisiana Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Louisiana enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 1,700,000 people in Louisiana 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, 830,000 Louisiana 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

$10.8 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Louisiana will receive $10.8 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.
8 Superfund Sites Cleaned Up: Since 1993, the EPA has completed 8 Superfund toxic waste clean-ups in Lousiana. The sites are located in Abbeville (3), Dutchtown, Sorrento, Winnfield and Slidell (2). In contrast, only one site cleanup was completed under the previous two administrations combined. [through 3/1/00]
Revitalizing Brownfields in Louisiana: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to Louisiana communities—New Orleans, Gretna, and Shreveport—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.
SPEARHEADING URBAN AND RURAL RENEWAL EFFORTS

Revitalizing Louisiana's Communities: The Northeast Delta, Macon Ridge, New Orleans and Ouachita Parish 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, New Orleans was named a Strategic Planning Community
Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 4,100 To 5,000 New Affordable Housing Units in Louisiana Over the Next 5 Years: This year, the President and Vice President pushed for a 40-percent expansion in the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Next year, the President and Vice President will try again to enact tax incentives to develop affordable housing. In Louisiana alone, this proposal would mean an additional 4,100 - 5,000 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.
PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF

$231.7 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Louisiana has received $231.7 million in disaster relief. This includes nearly $56 million in disaster relief for Tropical Storm Frances and Hurricane Georges in 1998. [FEMA, 2/29/00]
EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

Over $1.3 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Louisiana has received over $1.3 billion in federal highway aid, including $4.3 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $2.1 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 58,246 jobs. [through FY99]
Over $229.5 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Louisiana received over $229.5 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 $268.9 Million in Transit Funding: Since 1993, Louisiana has received over $268.9 million in Federal Transit Funding.
Saving Lives and Property: In 1999, the United States Coast Guard saved 211 lives and over $13.6 million of property in Louisiana.

Last Updated April 2000