EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Unemployment Down to 6.6%: The unemployment rate in Alaska has declined from 8.0% to 6.6% since 1993. 27,200 New Private Sector Jobs: 27,200 new private sector jobs have been created in Alaska since 1993 -- an average of 4,295 jobs per year. 9,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 7,000 Alaska workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage-from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 2,000 more received an additional raise-from $4.75 to $5.15 -- on September 1, 1997. 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 87,000 families in Alaska. Home Building Up 15.4%: Homebuilding in Alaska has increased an average of 15.4% per year since 1993, compared to an average annual increase of just 8.3% during the previous administration. Home Ownership Has Increased in Alaska: Home ownership in Alaska has increased from 60% to 68.3% since the fourth quarter of 1993. Over $25,000 of Reduced Federal Debt for Every Family of Four: The national debt will be $1.7 trillion lower in FY99 than projected in 1993 -- that's $25,000 less debt for each family of four in Alaska this year. EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Over 1,200 Children in Head Start: Over 1,200 Alaska children were enrolled in Head Start in 1998. In FY99, Alaska will receive $9.0 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $3.6 million over 1993. More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Alaska's Schools: Thanks to President Clinton, the final FY99 budget provides for the first year of the President's new initiative to hire 100,000 new, well-prepared teachers, to reduce class sizes in the early grades to a national average of 18. Alaska receives $5.6 million in 1999 to hire about 145 new public school teachers. And, under President Clinton's FY2000 proposal, Alaska would receive $7 million in FY2000 to support a total of 178 teachers. Nearly $1.7 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY99], Alaska receives nearly $1.7 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. $2.1 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY99], Alaska receives $2.1 million-doubling its funding over FY97 -- 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. $18.1 Million for Students Most in Need: Alaska will receive $18.1 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 [FY99]. This is an increase of $744,000 over FY98 funding. $9.5 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY99], Alaska will receive $9.5 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, an additional $400,000 over last year. With this increase, a total of 4,700 Alaska students will benefit. Expanded Work-Study To Help More Students Work Their Way Through College: The FY99 budget includes a significant expansion of the Federal Work Study program. Alaska will receive $867,000 in Work-Study funding in 1999 to help Alaska students work their way through college. Over 400 Have Served in Alaska through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 416 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Alaska's schools, hospitals, neighborhoods or parks. [through 11/98] 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. 16,000 students in Alaska will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 20,000 students in Alaska will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate] Expanded Job Training to Alaska's Dislocated Workers: Thanks to President Clinton, the FY99 budget includes a significant expansion in the dislocated worker program. Alaska will receive $5.8 million in 1999 to help 3430 of Alaska's dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE
Crime Falls in Anchorage: Since 1992, serious crime has fallen 5% in Anchorage. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports] Juvenile Arrests Down in Alaska: Alaska's juvenile crime arrests have decreased 54% between 1992 and 1997, (as measured by the crime index) , with Alaska's juvenile property arrests dropping 58%. [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997] 254 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 254 new police officers to date in communities across Alaska. [through 7/99] Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Alaska, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of: Anchorage, Chevak, Gambell, Juneau, and Kwethluk. 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. Nearly $2.2 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Alaska received $2.17 million in federal funds in FY98 to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. $400,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY98, Alaska 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 Alaska's Schools: Alaska receives $2.1 million in FY99 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs. MOVING ALASKA RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
9,479 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 6,830 fewer people on welfare in Alaska now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 27% decrease. [through 12/98] Child Support Collections Up 86%: Child support collections have increased by $31 million-or 86% -- in Alaska since FY92. [through FY98] Encouraging Responsible Choices-Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Alaska: 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 1992 and 1997, teen birth rates declined 30% in Alaska. $7 Million for Alaska Welfare-to-Work: In 1998, Alaska received $2.9 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants (the state matched $1.5 million in funding), helping Alaska welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, $1.3 million in competitive grants were awarded to Alaska localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies and Native American tribes in Alaska received $1.4 million 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 ALASKA'S HEALTH
Health Care for Uninsured Children: The balanced budget included the largest single investment in health care for children since the passage of Medicaid in 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-from checkups to surgery -- that children need to grow up strong and healthy. It ensures that prescription drugs, vision, hearing, and mental health coverage now offered at the state level are extended to millions of uninsured children. To expand health coverage to 9,000 uninsured children in Alaska the balanced budget provided $5.6 million in 1998. This compares to the 1995 Republican plan vetoed by President Clinton that would have denied health care coverage to 9,300 children in Alaska. Helping 24,000 of Alaska's 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 FY98, Alaska received $17.9 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 24,000 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 8,000 more than in 1994. 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, by 1996, 90% or more of America's toddlers received the most critical doses of each of the routinely recommended vaccines-surpassing the President's 1993 goal. In Alaska in 1997, 93% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 91% received the vaccine for polio; 87% received the vaccine for measles, and 90% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis. Increased Funding for Ryan White by $2.7 Million: Between 1993 and 1998, Alaska communities received $2.7 million in Ryan White formula and other HIV/AIDS program funds. This funding provides people living with HIV and AIDS medical and support services, including the AIDS Drug Assistance Program which helps those without insurance obtain much needed prescription drugs. [HHS, Health Resources and Services Administration, 12/98] Tobacco Plan Will Cut Smoking and Premature Deaths by 47% in Alaska: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 47% in Alaska by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 12,400 of Alaska's youth will be kept from smoking and 4,000 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99] 210,000 Americans in Alaska Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Alaska enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 210,000 people in Alaska 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 Alaska 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
2 Toxic Waste Sites Cleaned Up in Fairbanks: Since March 1993, the EPA has completed 2 toxic waste site clean-ups in Fairbanks, Alaska [through 6/99]. No sites were cleaned in Alaska during the previous two administrations. $9.5 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY99], thanks to President Clinton, Alaska will receive $7.5 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. In addition, Alaska will receive $2 million in Public Water Supply Supervision grants to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards. Revitalizing Brownfields in Ketchikan Gateway Borough: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to the Ketchikan Gateway Borough in Alaska-a Brownfields pilot project 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 AND RURAL RENEWAL EFFORTS
Revitalizing Alaska's Communities: Helping to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for Alaska's residents, in 1999 Anchorage was designated as a Strategic Planning Community and Juneau was named a Rural Enterprise Community. PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
$104.7 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Alaska has received $104.7 million in disaster relief. [FEMA, 12/98] EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
Over $1.2 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Alaska has received over $1.2 billion in federal highway aid. Included in this funding is $24.7 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $2.6 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 53,723 jobs. [through FY98] Over $543 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY98 Alaska received $543,000,000 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. The FAA through the Airport Improvement Program has continued its efforts to improve access to Alaska's rural communities. In 1998 the FAA funded 45 new projects. Several of these projects will result in rehabilitated or new airports in rural locations that have never received Airport Improvement Program funds in the past. Over $30 Million in Transit Funds: Since 1993, Alaska has received over $30 million in Federal Transit Funding. Saving Lives and Property: In 1997, the United States Coast Guard saved 258 lives and over $32.6 million of property in Alaska.
Last Updated July 1999
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