T H E   W H I T E   H O U S E

PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE'S ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Wisconsin

Help Site Map Text Only

• Unemployment Down to 3.0%: The unemployment rate in Wisconsin has declined from 4.4% to 3.0% since 1993.
• 451,100 New Jobs: 451,100 new jobs have been created in Wisconsin since 1993 -- an average of 57,587 jobs per year, compared to just 44,675 per year during the previous administration.
• 393,300 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 393,300 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 50,209 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 36,600 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.
• 58,600 New Manufacturing Jobs: 58,600 new manufacturing jobs have been created since 1993 -- an average of 7,481 per year. In contrast, an average of 1,150 manufacturing jobs were lost each year during the previous administration.
• 32,800 New Construction Jobs: Since 1993, 32,800 new construction jobs have been created in Wisconsin, an average of 4,232 jobs per year.
• 179,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 88,000 Wisconsin workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 91,000 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.
• 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 Wisconsin, the poverty rate has fallen from 12.6% in 1993 to 8.7% in 1999. [Census Bureau]
• Homeownership Has Increased in Wisconsin: Homeownership in Wisconsin has increased from 66.0% to 70.9% since 1993.
• 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 579,000 families in Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin'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 Wisconsin 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.

• Over 13,100 Children in Head Start: 13,113 Wisconsin children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Wisconsin will receive $74.3 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $32.7 million over 1993.
• More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Wisconsin's Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Wisconsin received $20 million in 1999 to hire about 517 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 Wisconsin $21.8 million in 2000 and $27.2 million in 2001.
• $17.3 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. Wisconsin will receive $17.3 million in school renovation grants.
• $6.4 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY01], Wisconsin receives $6.4 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.
• Over $129 Million for Students Most in Need: Wisconsin receives over $129 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: Wisconsin will receive $3.5 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.
• $117 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY01], Wisconsin will receive $117 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college.
• Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College: Wisconsin will receive $18.7 million in Work-Study funding in 2001 to help Wisconsin students work their way through college.
• Nearly 1,800 Have Served in Wisconsin through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 1,773 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Wisconsin'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. 119,000 students in Wisconsin will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 146,000 students in Wisconsin will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]
• Expanded Job Training to Wisconsin's Dislocated Workers: President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Wisconsin received $9.4 million in 1999 to help 5,570 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Wisconsin will receive over $11.5 million to provide job training services for dislocated workers.

• Crime Falls 12% in Wisconsin: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Since 1992, serious crime in Wisconsin has fallen 12% statewide. Property crime has also fallen 13%. In Wisconsin's cities, serious crime, as indicated by the crime index, has fallen 23% in Madison and 14% in Milwaukee. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]
• Juvenile Arrests Down in Wisconsin: Wisconsin's juvenile violent arrests have decreased 24% between 1992 and 1997. [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997]
• 1,215 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,215 new police officers to date in communities across Wisconsin. [through 1/01]
• Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Wisconsin, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Madison, Milwaukee, Bowler and Keshena. 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.
• $31.2 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Wisconsin has received approximately $31.2 million in federal funds to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. And in October 1999, Edgewood College was awarded $213,302 to help address sexual assault, domestic violence, and stalking on campus. [through 9/2000]
• Over $1.1 Million in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Wisconsin received approximately $1.1 million in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.
• $7.2 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Wisconsin's Schools: Wisconsin receives $7.2 million in FY01 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.

• 213,958 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 213,958 fewer people on welfare in Wisconsin now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- an 89% decrease. [through 6/99]
• Child Support Collections Up 70%: Child support collections have increased by more than $206 million—or 70% -- in Wisconsin since FY92. [through FY98]
• Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Wisconsin: 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 and teen abortion rates are declining. And between 1991 and 1997, teen birth rates declined 17.8% in Wisconsin.
• $29.2 Million for Wisconsin Welfare-to-Work: In 1998 and 1999, Wisconsin received a total of $24.9 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants, helping Wisconsin welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, $4.3 million in competitive grants were awarded to Wisconsin localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies and Native American tribes in Wisconsin received $373,000 in Federal funding. 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. Milwaukee and Appleton have received a total of $1.2 million this year to fund innovative transit projects.

• Health Care for Nearly 13,000 Uninsured Wisconsin 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 12,949 in Wisconsin. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]
• Helping Over 104,000 Wisconsin 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, Wisconsin received $56.5 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 104,275 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 Wisconsin in 1998, 95% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 92% received the vaccine for polio; 92% received the vaccine for measles, and 94% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.
• Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Wisconsin will receive over $1.8 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, Wisconsin will receive nearly $2.4 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 41% in Wisconsin: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 41% in Wisconsin by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 70,200 of Wisconsin's youth will be kept from smoking and 22,400 will be spared premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]
• 2,900,000 Americans in Wisconsin Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Wisconsin enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 2,900,000 people in Wisconsin 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, 1,440,000 Wisconsin 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.

• $10.4 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Wisconsin will receive $10.4 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.
• 28 Superfund Sites Cleaned Up: Since the President took office in 1993, the EPA completed 28 toxic waste site clean-ups in Wisconsin. This is more than nine times the number of sites cleaned up during the previous twelve years combined. [through 3/1/00]
• Brownfields—Revitalizing Communities in Wisconsin: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to counties and communities in Wisconsin—Glendale, Kenosha, Milwaukee, and Milwaukee County—for environmental clean-up and economic revitalization. In addition, The Wisconsin Department of National Resources and the Northwest Regional Planning Commission, who have targeted six contaminated sites and are considering six more, will also benefit from Brownfields grants. These projects are intended to jump-start local clean-up efforts by providing funds to return unproductive, abandoned, contaminated urban properties to productive use.

• Revitalizing Wisconsin's Communities: Milwaukee was designated an Enterprise Community and was awarded $3 million to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for area residents. In 1999, Keshena was designated a Rural Enterprise Community.
• Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 3,400 To 4,100 New Affordable Housing Units in Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin alone, this proposal would mean an additional 3,400 - 4,100 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.

• $142.3 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Wisconsin has received $142.3 million in disaster relief. This includes $22 million for severe storms and flooding in 1998, and $68 million in assistance to recover from the Midwest Floods of 1993. [FEMA, 2/29/00]

• $1.7 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Wisconsin has received $1.7 billion in federal highway aid, including $3.4 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters. This funding has helped generate 69,662 jobs. [through FY99]
• Over $249.1 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Wisconsin received over $249.1 million in Airport Improvement Plan 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 $298.2 Million in Transit Funds: Wisconsin has received over $298.2 million in Federal Transit Administration funds since 1993.
• Saving Lives and Property: In 1999, the United States Coast Guard saved 44 lives and over $10.8 million of property in Wisconsin.

January 2001

Midwest

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Michigan

Minnesota

Missouri

Nebraska

North Dakota

Ohio

South Dakota

Wisconsin