Wyoming

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

ACCOMPLISHMENTS: Wyoming

EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL

Unemployment Down to 3.8%: The unemployment rate in Wyoming declined from 5.2% to 3.8% since 1993.

34,100 New Jobs: 34,100 new jobs have been created in Wyoming since 1993 -- an average of 4,353 jobs per year.

30,600 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 30,600 new private sector jobs have been created in Wyoming—an average of 3,906 jobs per year.

6,300 New Construction Jobs: Since 1993, 6,300 new construction jobs have been created in Wisconsin, an average of 813 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of only 325 new construction jobs were created during the previous administration.

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 55,000 families in Wyoming.

28,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 12,000 Wyoming workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage—from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 16,000 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 Wyoming: Homeownership in Wyoming has increased from 67.6% to 69.8% since 1993.

Homebuilding Up 6.7%: Homebuilding in Wyoming has increased an average of 6.7% per year since 1993 -- compared to an average annual decrease of 10.7% during the previous two administrations.

Wyoming'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 Wyoming 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.

7.3% Growth in Total Bank Loans and Leases: Wyoming has seen a 7.3% average annual growth rate in total bank loans and leases per year since 1993. In contrast, total bank loans and leases grew by an annual average of just 4.4% during the previous administration.

4.5% Growth in Commercial and Industrial Loans and Leases: Since 1993, Wyoming has experienced a 4.5% average annual growth rate in commercial and industrial loans and leases. In contrast, commercial and industrial loans and leases fell an annual average of 5.0% during the previous administration.

EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION

1,500 Children in Head Start: 1,500 Wyoming children were enrolled in Head Start in 1999. In FY00, Wyoming will receive $8.2 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $3.5 million over 1993.

More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Wyoming’s Schools: Thanks to the Class Size Reduction Initiative, Wyoming received $5.6 million in 1999 to hire about 145 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 Wyoming $6.1 million in 2000 and $7.6 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. Wyoming will receive $5.5 million in school renovation grants.

$2.2 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY01], Wyoming 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.

$18.7 Million for Students Most in Need: Wyoming receives $18.7 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: Wyoming will receive $509,759 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.

$16.6 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY01], Wyoming will receive $16.6 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college.

Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College: Wyoming will receive $1.2 million in Work-Study funding in 2001 to help Wyoming students work their way through college.

Over 600 Have Served in Wyoming through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 627 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Wyoming’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. 14,000 students in Wyoming will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 18,000 students in Wyoming will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate]

Expanded Job Training to Wyoming’s Dislocated Workers: President Clinton's FY 2001 budget would triple funding for the dislocated workers program over 1992 levels. Wyoming received $1.3 million in 1999 to help 800 dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. In FY 2000, Wyoming will receive nearly $2 million to provide job training services for dislocated workers.

FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE

Crime Falls 6% in Wyoming: Under the Clinton-Gore Administration, America has experienced the longest continuous drop in crime on record. Since 1992, serious crime in Wyoming has fallen by 6%. Violent crime and property crime has also fallen 18% and 5% respectively. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports]

91 More Police: The President’s 1994 Crime Bill has funded 91 new police officers to date in communities across Wyoming. [through 1/01]

Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Wyoming, the Clinton Administration has awarded a Drug Court grant to the community of Evanston. The Administration had previously awarded a grant to the Wyoming community of Sheridan. 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.

$9.5 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Wyoming has received approximately $9.5 million in federal funds to establish more women’s shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims’ services. [through 9/2000]

$400,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY99, Wyoming received $400,000 in HHS’s Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse.

$2.1 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Wyoming’ Schools: Wyoming has received $2.1 million in FY01 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs.

MOVING WYOMING RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK

16,650 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 16,650 fewer people on welfare in Wyoming now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 91% decrease. [through 6/99]

Child Support Collections Up 206%: Child support collections have increased by $22 million—or 206% -- in Wyoming since FY92. [through FY98]

Encouraging Responsible Choices—Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Wyoming: 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 20.1% in Wyoming.

$139,000 for Wyoming Welfare-to-Work: In 1998, Native American tribes in Wyoming received $139,000 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.

INVESTING IN WYOMING’S HEALTH

Helping Over 11,600 Wyoming 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, Wyoming received $7.1 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 11,619 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 Wyoming in 1998, 93% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 90% received the vaccine for polio; 89% 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, Wyoming will receive $100,000 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, Wyoming will receive $105,536 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 Wyoming: The Clinton Administration’s tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 45% in Wyoming by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 6,600 of Wyoming’s youth will be kept from smoking and 2,100 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]

190,000 Americans in Wyoming Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Wyoming enacted all the protections in the Patients’ Bill of Rights, 190,000 people in Wyoming 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, 100,000 Wyoming 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

Toxic Waste Site Cleaned Up in Evansville: Since 1993, the EPA has completed a Superfund toxic waste clean-up in Evansville, Wyoming. Not one site was cleaned up under the previous two administrations combined. [through 3/1/00]

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

Revitalizing Brownfields Project in Wyoming: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration’s efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to Wyoming communities Evanston and Kemmerer 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.

PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF

Nearly $1.2 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Wyoming received nearly $1.2 million in disaster assistance for severe winter storms in 1999. [FEMA, 2/29/00]

EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT

$610 Million in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Wyoming has received $610 million in federal highway aid, including $4.6 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $2.1 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate approximately 26,061. [through FY99]

Over $72.7 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY99 Wyoming received over $72.7 million in Airport Improvement Project 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.