EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Unemployment Down to 4.7%: The unemployment rate in Arizona has declined from 7% to 4.7% since 1993. 606,100 New Jobs: 606,100 new jobs have been created in Arizona since 1993 -- an average of 95,700 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 22,525 jobs per year during the previous administration. 546,00 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 546,000 new private sector jobs have been created in Arizona-an average of 86,211 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 13,375 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration. 44,600 New Manufacturing Jobs: 44,600 manufacturing jobs have been created in Arizona since 1993 -- an average of 7,042 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 3,800 manufacturing jobs were lost each year during the previous administration. 75,600 New Construction Jobs: 75,600 construction jobs have been created in Arizona since 1993 -- an average of 11,937 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 2,350 construction jobs were lost each year during the previous administration. 191,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 76,000 Arizona workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage-from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 115,000 more, received an additional raise-from $4.75 to $5.15 -- on September 1, 1997. Home Building Up 12.3%: Home building in Arizona has increased by an average of 12.3% per year since 1993, after falling over 0.8% per year 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 403,000 families in Arizona. Business Failures Down 11.9% Per Year: Business failures in Arizona have dropped an average of 11.9% per year since 1993, after increasing 49.8% per year during the previous 12 years [Oct 98 data]. 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 Arizona this year. EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Over 11,000 Children in Head Start: Over 11,000 Arizona children were enrolled in Head Start in 1998. In FY99, Arizona will receive $63.1 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $27.6 million over 1993. More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Arizona'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. Arizona receives $17.5 million in 1999 to hire about 450 new public school teachers. And, under President Clinton's proposal, Arizona would receive $21 million in FY2000 to support a total of 582 teachers. $7.1 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY99], Arizona receives $7.1 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. $6.3 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY99], Arizona receives $6.3 million-more than 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. $118.8 Million for Students Most in Need: Arizona receives $118.8 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 $5.2 million over FY98 funding. $144.1 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY99], Arizona will receive $144.1 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, an additional $6.7 million over last year. With this increase, a total of 76,800 Arizona 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. Arizona will receive $10 million in Work-Study funding in 1999 to help Arizona students work their way through college. Nearly 1,400 Have Served in Arizona through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 1,365 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Arizona'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. 138,000 students in Arizona will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 169,000 students in Arizona will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate] Expanded Job Training to Arizona's Dislocated Workers: Thanks to President Clinton, the FY99 budget includes a significant expansion in the dislocated worker program. Arizona will receive $14 million in 1999 to help 8,310 of Arizona's dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE
Juvenile Arrests Down in Arizona: Arizona's juvenile murder arrests have decreased 29% between 1992 and 1997. [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997] 1,867 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,867 new police officers to date in communities across Arizona [through 7/99]. Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Arizona, the Clinton Administration has awarded Drug Court grants to the communities of Peach Springs and Tucson. The Administration had previously awarded grants to a number of Arizona communities including: Campe Verde, Phoenix, Window Rock, Globe, Sacaton, Pascua Tribe, Salt River Scottsdale and Yuma. 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 $5 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Arizona received $4.7 million in federal funds in FY98 to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. $950,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY98, Arizona received $950,000 in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse, an additional $198,800 increase over FY97. Over $6.9 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Arizona's Schools: Arizona receives over $6.9 million in FY99 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs. MOVING ARIZONA RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
97,821 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 97,821 fewer people on welfare in Arizona now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 50% decrease [through 12/98]. Child Support Collections Up 207%: Child support collections have increased by over $96 million-or 207% -- in Arizona since FY92 [through FY98]. Encouraging Responsible Choices-Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Arizona: 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 15% in Arizona. $64.9 Million for Arizona Welfare-to-Work: In 1998, Arizona received $9.0 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants (the state matched $4.5 million in funding), helping Arizona welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, $8.2 million in competitive grants were awarded to Arizona localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies and Native American tribes in Arizona received $2.7 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. 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. Maricopa County and Coolidge have received a total of $1.1 million this year to fund innovative transit projects. INVESTING IN ARIZONA'S HEALTH
Health Care for Uninsured Children: The balanced budget includes 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 approximately 184,000 uninsured children in Arizona the balanced budget provided $113 million in 1998. This compares to the 1995 Republican plan vetoed by President Clinton that would have denied health care coverage to 10,400 children in Arizona. 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 Arizona in 1997, 91% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 88% received the vaccine for polio; 88% received the vaccine for measles, and 90% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis. Helping Over 141,000 Arizona 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, Arizona received $64.9 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 141,700 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 30,700 more than in 1994. Increased Funding for Ryan White by $36.1 Million: Between 1993 and 1998, Arizona communities received $36.1 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 35% in Arizona: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths by 35% in Arizona by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004 , 51,000 of Arizona's youth will be kept from smoking and 16,300 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99]. 1,720,000 Americans in Arizona Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Arizona enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 1,720,000 people in Arizona 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, 830,000 Arizona 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 Arizona: Since 1993, the EPA has completed two Superfund toxic waste cleanups in Arizona. The sites are located in Hassayampa and Phoenix [through 6/99]. $8.8 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY99], thanks to President Clinton, Arizona will receive $7.6 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, Arizona will receive $1.2 million in Public Water Supply Supervision grants to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards. Revitalizing Brownfields Projects in Arizona: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to communities in Arizona-Navajo Nation, Phoenix, Tohono O'odham Nation, and Tucson-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 AND RURAL RENEWAL EFFORTS
Revitalizing Arizona's Communities: Phoenix and the Arizona Border were designated Enterprise Communities in December, 1994 and were awarded $3 million each to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for area residents. In 1999, Window Rock was named a Rural Enterprise Community. Expanding the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Will Help Develop 1,100 To 1,300 New Affordable Housing Units in Arizona 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 Arizona alone, this proposal would mean an additional 1,100 - 1,300 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years. PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
$131.4 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Arizona has received $131.4 million in disaster relief. [FEMA, 12/98] EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
Over $1.5 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Arizona has received over $1.5 billion in federal highway aid. Included in this funding is $59 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $3.8 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 66,792 jobs (through FY98). Over $24 Million in Airport Improvement Program Funds: From FY93-FY98 Arizona received over $24 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. $260 Million in Transit Funds: The Federal Transit Administration has provided approximately $260 million in funding since 1993 to support public transportation in Arizona.
Last Updated July 1999
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