Utah

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

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Utah

EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL:

Unemployment Down to 3.3%: The unemployment rate in Utah has declined from 4.4% to 3.3% since 1993.

300,000 New Jobs: 300,000 new jobs have been created in Utah since 1993 -- an average of 38,298 jobs per year compared to the average of just 28,150 jobs per year during the previous administration.

273,700 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 273,700 new private sector jobs have been created—an average of 34,940 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 24,575 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration.

24,600 New Manufacturing Jobs: 24,600 manufacturing jobs have been created in Utah since 1993 -- an average of 3,140 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of only 1,650 manufacturing jobs were created each year during the previous administration.

36,300 New Construction Jobs: 36,300 construction jobs have been created in Utah since 1993 -- an average of 4,684 jobs per year.

77,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 33,000 Utah workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 44,000 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.

Homeownership Has Increased in Utah: Homeownership in Utah has increased from 69.4% to 74.7% since 1993.

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 Utah, the poverty rate has fallen from 10.7% in 1993 to 7.3% 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 257,000 families in Utah.

Utah'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 Utah 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.

22.6% Growth in Total Bank Loans and Leases: Utah has seen a 22.6% average annual growth rate in total bank loans and leases per year since 1993. In contrast, total bank loans and leases grew only an average of 0.7% per year during the previous administration.

26.2% Growth in Commercial and Industrial Loans and Leases: Since 1993, Utah has experienced a 26.2% annual growth rate in commercial and industrial loans and leases. In

contrast, commercial and industrial loans and leases fell an average of 4.7% during the previous administration.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

Over 4,600 Children in Head Start: 4,679 Utah children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Utah will receive $26.6 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $13.6 million over 1993.

More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Utah’s Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Utah received $7.7 million in 1999 to hire about 198 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 Utah $8.3 million in 2000 and $10.4 million in 2001.

$5.5 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. Utah will receive $5.5 million in school renovation grants.

$2.2 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY01], Utah receives $2.2 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 21^st century.

$35.3 Million for Students Most in Need: Utah receives $35.3 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: Utah will receive $959,031 in Title I Accountability Grants. 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.

$89.5 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY01], Utah will receive $89.5 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college.

Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College: Utah will receive $4.7 million in Work-Study funding in 2001 to help Utah students work their way through college.

Over 900 Have Served in Utah through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 913 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Utah’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. 53,000 students in Utah will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 65,000 students in Utah will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]

Expanded Job Training to Utah’s Dislocated Workers: President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Utah received $2.5 million in 1999 to help 1,510 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Utah will receive over $4.3 million to provide job training services for dislocated workers.

FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Juvenile Arrests Down in Utah: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Utah’s juvenile arrests have decreased 27% between 1992 and 1997, (as measured by the crime index). [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997]

968 More Police: The President’s 1994 Crime Bill has funded 968 new police officers to date in communities across Utah. [through 1/01]

Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Utah, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Salt Lake City, Provo, and Vernal. 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.

$12.2 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Utah has received approximately $12.2 million in federal funds to establish more women’s shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims’ services. [through 9/2000]

Nearly $440,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Utah received nearly $440,000 in HHS’s Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

$2.7 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Utah Schools: Utah receives $2.7 million in FY01 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.

MOVING UTAH RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK

24,263 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 24,263 fewer people on welfare in Utah now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 46% decrease. [through 6/99]

Child Support Collections Up 84%: Child support collections have increased by $44 million—or 84% -- in Utah since FY92. [through FY98]

Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Utah: 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 11.6% in Utah.

$4.6 Million for Utah Welfare-to-Work: In 1999 and 1998, a total of $4.6 million in competitive grants were awarded to Utah 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.

INVESTING IN UTAH’S HEALTH

Health Care for Over 13,000 Uninsured Utah 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 13,040 in Utah. [HHS, Health Care Financing Administration, FY99 SCHIP enrollment data]

Helping Nearly 60,000 Utah 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, Utah received $31.1 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 59,597 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 4,300 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 Utah in 1998, 91% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 91% received the vaccine for polio; 91% received the vaccine for measles, and 92% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis.

Funding for HIV/AIDS Assistance Programs: In FY 2000, Utah will receive over $1 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, Utah will receive over $1.3 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 46% in Utah: The Clinton Administration’s tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 46% in Utah by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 23,000 of Utah’s youth will be kept from smoking and 7,400 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]

950,000 Americans in Utah Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Utah enacted all the protections in the Patients’ Bill of Rights, 950,000 people in Utah 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, 470,000 Utah 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

$7.7 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY00], thanks to President Clinton, Utah will receive $7.7 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.

6 Superfund Sites Cleaned Up: Since the President took office in 1993, the EPA has completed 6 toxic waste site clean-up in Utah. The sites are located in Monticello, Midvale, Ogden and Salt Lake City (3). Only one site was cleaned up in the previous two administrations combined. [through 3/1/00]

Brownfields—Revitalizing Communities in Utah: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to communities in Utah—Murray City, Ogden City, Provo, West Jordan, and Salt Lake City—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 RENEWAL EFFORTS

Revitalizing Utah’s Communities: Ogden was designated an Enterprise Community and were awarded $3 million each to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for area residents.

Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 1,000 To 1,200 New Affordable Housing Units in Utah 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 Utah alone, this proposal would mean an additional 1,000 - 1,200 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years.

PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF

Over $2 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Utah has received over $2 million in disaster relief. [FEMA, 2/29/00]

EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

$605 Million in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Utah has received over $605 million in federal highway aid, including $600,000 for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $3.8 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 25,828 jobs. [through FY99]

Over $161 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Utah received over $161 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.