Mississippi

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PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Mississippi PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE’S PRESIDENT CLINTON AND VICE PRESIDENT GORE’S

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Mississippi

EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Unemployment Down to 5.9%: The unemployment rate in Mississippi has declined from 6.7% to 5.9% since 1993.

169,200 New Jobs: 169,200 new jobs have been created in Mississippi since 1993 -- an average of 21,600 per year, compared to an average of just 17,400 jobs per year in the previous administration.

147,900 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 147,900 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 18,881 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 15,025 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.

16,000 New Construction Jobs: 16,000 construction jobs have been created in Mississippi since 1993 -- an average of 2,065 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of just 375 construction jobs were created each year during the previous administration.

203,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 80,000 Mississippi workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 123,000 others 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.

Business Failures and Bankruptcy Filings Down: Business failures have dropped an average of 15.5% per year since 1993, after increasing 15.8% per year during the previous 12 years. Additionally, bankruptcy filings have declined 9.8% per year since 1993, after increasing 9.2% during the previous two administrations. [99 data]

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 Mississippi, the poverty rate has fallen from 24.7% in 1993 to 16.9% in 1999. [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 267,000 families in Mississippi.

Homeownership Has Increased in Mississippi: Homeownership in Mississippi has increased from 69.9% to 74.9% since 1993.

Home Building Up 8.5%: Home building in Mississippi has increased by an average of 8.5% per year since 1993, after falling by over 3.9% per year during the previous administration.

Mississippi'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 Mississippi 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.

4.6% Growth in Total Bank Loans and Leases: Mississippi has seen a 4.6% average growth rate in total bank loans and leases per year since 1993.

0.5% Growth in Commercial and Industrial Loans and Leases: Since 1993, Mississippi has experienced a 0.5% annual growth rate in commercial and industrial loans and leases. In contrast, commercial and industrial loans and leases fell by an annual average of 2.5% during the previous administration.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Over 25,000 Children in Head Start: 25,091 Mississippi children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Mississippi will receive $125.3 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $41.1 million over 1993.

More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Mississippi’s Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Mississippi received $19.2 million in 1999 to hire about 494 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 Mississippi $20.8 million in 2000 and $25.9 million in 2001.

$17.1 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. Mississippi will receive $17.1 million in school renovation grants.

$6.4 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY01], Mississippi 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.

$125 Million for Students Most in Need: Mississippi receives $125 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: Mississippi will receive $3.4 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.

$138 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY01], Mississippi will receive $138 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college.

Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College: Mississippi will receive $12.9 million in Work-Study funding in 2001 to help Mississippi students work their way through college.

Nearly 2,600 Have Served in Mississippi through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 2,579 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Mississippi’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 includes 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. 45,000 students in Mississippi will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 54,000 students in Mississippi will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]

Expanded Job Training to Mississippi’s Dislocated Workers: President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Mississippi received $12.3 million in 1999 to help 7,310 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Mississippi will receive $13.4 million to provide job training for dislocated workers.

FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Crime Falls 23% in Jackson: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Since 1992, serious crime, as indicated by the crime index, has fallen 23% in Jackson, Mississippi. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]

1,594 More Police: The President’s 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,594 new police officers to date in communities across Mississippi. [through 1/01]

Greenville Will Receive Targeted Funding to Hire More Community Police: Greenville 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. Greenville 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 Mississippi, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Jackson and Ridgeland. 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.

$15.8 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Mississippi has received approximately $15.8 million in federal funds to establish more women’s shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims’ services. [through 9/2000]

Nearly $595,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Mississippi received nearly $595,000 in HHS’s Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

$5.3 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Mississippi’s Schools: Mississippi receives $5.3 million in FY01 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.

MOVING MISSISSIPPI RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK

140,240 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 140,240 fewer people on welfare in Mississippi now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- an 81% decrease. [through 6/99]

Child Support Collections Up 133%: Child support collections have increased by nearly $62 million—or 133% -- in Mississippi since FY92. [through FY98]

Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Mississippi: 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 13.9% in Mississippi.

$4.9 Million for Mississippi Welfare-to-Work: In 1999 and 1998, a total of $4.8 million in competitive grants were awarded to Mississippi localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies and Native American tribes in Mississippi received $150,000 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. Clarksdale and Gulfport have received a total of $273,096 this year to fund innovative transit projects.

INVESTING IN MISSISSIPPI’S HEALTH

Health Care for Over 13,000 Uninsured 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 13,218 in Mississippi. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]

Helping Over 97,000 Mississippi 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, Mississippi received $56.6 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 97,212 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 Mississippi in 1998, 94% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 92% received the vaccine for polio; 93% received the vaccine for measles, and 95% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.

Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Mississippi will receive $2.6 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, Mississippi will receive over $3.3 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 44% in Mississippi: The Clinton Administration’s tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 44% in Mississippi by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 31,300 of Mississippi’s youth will be kept from smoking and 10,000 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]

1,130,000 Americans in Mississippi Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Mississippi enacted all the protections in the Patients’ Bill of Rights, 1,130,000 people in Mississippi 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, 570,000 Mississippi 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 $607 Million in Mississippi's Veterans: President Clinton and Vice President Gore are committed to caring for Mississippi's 233,000 veterans. The Veterans Administration invested nearly $607 million in Mississippi in 1999 alone. In 1999, 44,095 Mississippi veterans received disability compensation or pension payments, more than 3,908 went to college on the GI Bill, and 3,692 bought a home using VA loan guarantees.

Providing Health Care for Mississippi's 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 1999, 41,260 veterans received health care in Mississippi’s VA facilities.

PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT

Over $9 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Mississippi will receive over $9 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.

2 Superfund Clean-ups: Since 1993, the EPA has completed clean-up at toxic waste sites in Flowood and Columbia, Mississippi. Only one site cleaned up during the previous two administrations combined. [through 3/1/00]

Revitalizing Brownfields Project in Mississippi: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to Mississippi communities Columbia and Jackson, as well as Oktibbeha County, for environmental clean-up and economic revitalization. This project is intended to jump-start local clean-up efforts by providing funds to return unproductive, abandoned, contaminated urban properties to productive use.

SPEARHEADING URBAN RENEWAL EFFORTS

Revitalizing Mississippi’s Communities: The Mid Delta was designated an Empowerment Zone and was awarded $40 million to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for city residents. Additionally, the North Delta and Jackson were both designated Enterprise Communities, and were awarded $3 million each for similar job creation efforts. In 1999, Jackson was designated a Strategic Planning Community.

Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 4,300 To 5,200 New Affordable Housing Units in Mississippi 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 Mississippi alone, this proposal would mean an additional 4,300 - 5,200 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.

PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF

$179.5 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Mississippi has received $179.5 million in disaster relief. This includes $4 million for Hurricane Georges in 1998, and $72 million in assistance to recover from a severe winter storm in February 1994. [FEMA, 2/29/00]

EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

Over $1 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Mississippi has received over $1 billion in federal highway aid, including $3.7 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters. These funds have helped generate 45,750 jobs. [through FY99]

Over $72.7 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Mississippi received over $72.7 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.