EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Unemployment Down to 4.3%: The unemployment rate in Maine declined from 7.4% to 4.3% since 1993. 69,500 New Jobs: 69,500 new jobs have been created in Maine since 1993 -- an average of 10,974 per year, compared to an average of 7,300 jobs lost per year during the previous administration. 72,000 New Private Sector Jobs: 72,000 new private sector jobs have been created in Maine since 1993 -- an average of 11,368 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 8,200 jobs were lost each year under the previous administration. 44,000 Have Received a Raise: Approximately 18,000 Maine workers have benefited from an increase in the minimum wage-from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. They, along with about 26,000 more received an additional raise-from $4.75 to $5.15 -- on September 1, 1997. Home Building Up 4.6%: Home building has increased by an average of 4.6% per year since 1993, after falling over 16.3% per year during the previous administration. Poverty Has Fallen: Nationally, the poverty rate has fallen from 15.1% in 1993 to 13.3% in 1997. In Maine, the poverty rate has fallen from 15.4% in 1993 to 10.1% in 1997--down 5.3% under President Clinton. [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 142,000 families in Maine. Business Failures Down 9.6%: Business failures have dropped an average of 9.6% per year since 1993, after increasing an average of over 53% per year during the previous administration [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 Maine this year. EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Over 3,500 Children in Head Start: Over 3,500 Maine children were enrolled in Head Start in 1998. In FY99, Maine will receive $18.4 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $7.3 million over 1993. More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Maine'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. Maine receives $5.6 million in 1999 to hire about 145 new public school teachers. And, under President Clinton's proposal, Maine would receive $7 million in FY2000 to support a total of 178 teachers. $2.1 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY99], Maine receives $2.1 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. $2.1 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY99], Maine receives $2.1 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 21st century. Over $31.8 Million for Students Most in Need: Maine receives $31.8 million in Title I Grants (to Local Education 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 $2 million over FY98 funding. $29.6 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY99], Maine will receive $29.6 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, an additional $1.3 million over last year. With this increase, a total of 15,600 Maine 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. Maine will receive $7.9 million in Work-Study funding in 1999 to help Maine students work their way through college. Over 800 Have Served in Maine through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 841 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Maine'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. 21,000 students in Maine will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 26,000 students in Maine will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate] Expanded Job Training to Maine's Dislocated Workers: Thanks to President Clinton, the FY99 budget includes a significant expansion in the dislocated worker program. Maine will receive $3.9 million in 1999 to help 2,350 of Maine'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 11% in Maine: Since 1992, serious crime in Maine has fallen 11%. Violent crime and property crime have also fallen 7% and 11% respectively. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports] 258 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 258 new police officers to date in communities across Maine. [through 7/99] Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Maine, the Clinton Administration has awarded a Drug Court grant to the community of Portland. The Administration had previously awarded grants to the Maine communities of Princeton and Old Town. 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. $1.8 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Maine received $1.8 million in federal funds in FY98 to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. $400,000 for Battered Women and Children: In FY98, Maine received $400,000 in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse. $2.2 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Maine's Schools: Maine received $2.2 million in FY99 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs. MOVING MAINE RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
30,966 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 30,966 fewer people on welfare in Maine now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 46% decrease. [through 12/98] Child Support Collections Up 95%: Child support collections have been increased by $36 million-or 95% -- in Maine since FY92. [through FY98] Encouraging Responsible Choices-Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Maine: 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 20% in Maine. $11.0 Million for Maine Welfare-to-Work: In 1998, Maine received $5.2 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants (the state matched $2.6 million in funding), helping Maine welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, $3.2 million in competitive grants were awarded to Maine localities to support innovative welfare-to-work strategies and Native American tribes in Maine received $29,000 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. Augusta and Portland have a received a total of $267,000 this year to fund innovative transit projects. INVESTING IN MAINE'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 more uninsured children in Maine the balanced budget provided $12.5 million in 1998. This compares to the 1995 Republican plan vetoed by President Clinton that would have denied health coverage to 20,500 children in Maine. Helping Nearly 30,000 Maine 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, Maine received $13.3 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 25,800 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance. 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 Maine in 1997, 98% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 95% received the vaccine for polio; 95% received the vaccine for measles, and 96% 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, Maine 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] President's Tobacco Plan Will Cut Smoking and Premature Deaths by 47% in Maine: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 47% in Maine by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 21,200 of Maine's youth will be kept from smoking and 6,800 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [ Treasury Dept., 2/99] 630,000 Americans in Maine Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Maine enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 630,000 people in Maine 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, 310,000 Maine 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
Four Toxic Waste Sites Cleaned Up: Since 1993, the EPA has completed four Superfund toxic waste cleanups in Maine. The sites are located in Saco, Washburn, South Hope and Winthrop [through 6/99]. In contrast, only one sight was cleaned up during the previous two administrations. $8.3 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY99], thanks to President Clinton, Maine will receive $7.4 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, Maine will receive $860,000 in Public Water Supply Supervision grants to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards. Revitalizing Brownfields in Communities and the State of Maine: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to two communities-Lewiston and Portland-for environmental clean-up and economic revitalization. In addition, The State of Maine will use redevelopment of Brownfields as a catalyst for revitalizing 85 towns and cities across the state. 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 Maine's Communities: Helping to create more jobs, housing, and economic opportunity for Maine's area residents, Lewiston was designated a Rural Enterprise Community in 1999. PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
$72.8 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Maine has received $72.8 million in disaster relief. [FEMA, 12/98] EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
Over $735 Million in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Maine has received over $735 million in federal highway aid. Included in this funding is $10.3 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $1.35 million for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate 79,598 jobs. [through FY98] Over $43 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY98 Maine received over $43 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. Over $66 Million in Transit Funds: Maine has received approximately $66.7 million in FTA funds since 1993. Saving Lives and Property: In 1997 the United States Coast Guard saved 22 lives and over $13 million of property in Maine.
Last Updated July 1999
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