EXPANDING ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Unemployment Down to 5.1%: The unemployment rate in Oregon has declined from 8.1% to 5.1% since 1993. 304,300 New Jobs: 304,300 new jobs have been created in Oregon since 1993 -- an average of 48,047 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 23,200 jobs per year under the previous administration. 276,600 New Private Sector Jobs: Since 1993, 276,600 new private sector jobs have been created-an average of 43,674 jobs per year, compared to an average of just 18,550 private sector jobs per year in the previous administration. 31,700 New Manufacturing Jobs: 31,700 manufacturing jobs have been created in Oregon since 1993 -- an average of 5,005 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of 1,850 manufacturing jobs were lost each year during the previous administration. 36,000 New Construction Jobs: 36,000 construction jobs have been created in Oregon since 1993 -- an average of 5,684 jobs per year. In contrast, an average of just 1,525 construction jobs were created each year during the previous administration. 107,000 Have Received a Raise: 107,000 Oregon workers benefited from an increase in the minimum wage-from $4.25 to $4.75 -- on October 1, 1996. 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 340,000 families in Oregon. Home Ownership Has Increased in Oregon: Home ownership in Oregon has increased from 64.3% to 65.5% since the fourth quarter of 1993. Homebuilding Up 6.1%: Homebuilding in Oregon has increased 6.1% per year since 1993. In contrast, homebuilding decreased an average of 1.1% during the previous two administrations. 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 Oregon this year. EXPANDING ACCESS TO EDUCATION
Nearly 6,500 Children in Head Start: Nearly 6,500 Oregon children were enrolled in Head Start in 1998. In FY99, Oregon will receive $40.3 million in Head Start funding, an increase of $18.5 million over 1993. More High-Quality Teachers With Smaller Classes for Oregon'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. Oregon receives $11.5 million in 1999 to hire about 297 new public school teachers. And, under President Clinton's proposal, Oregon would receive $13 million in FY2000 to support a total of 363 teachers. $4.7 Million in Goals 2000 Funding: This year [FY99], Oregon receives $4.7 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. Nearly $3.8 Million for Technology Literacy: This year [FY99], Oregon receives nearly $3.8 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 $69.5 Million for Students Most in Need: Oregon will receive over $69.5 million in Title I grants 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 $1.38 million over FY98 funding. $71.6 Million in Pell Grants: This year [FY99], Oregon will receive $71.6 million in Pell Grants for low-income students going to college, an additional $3.3 million over last year. With this increase, a total of 37,800 Oregon 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. Oregon will receive $12.4 million in Work-Study funding in 1999 to help Oregon students work their way through college. Nearly 2,000 Have Served in Oregon through AmeriCorps: Since the National Service program began in 1993, 1,798 AmeriCorps participants have earned money for college while working in Oregon'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. 82,000 students in Oregon will receive a HOPE Scholarship tax credit of up to $1,500. 101,000 students in Oregon will receive the Lifetime Learning Tax Credit. [fully phased-in FY2000 estimate] Expanded Job Training to Oregon's Dislocated Workers: Thanks to President Clinton, the FY99 budget includes a significant expansion in the dislocated worker program. Oregon will receive $15.7 million in 1999 to help 9,310 of Oregon's dislocated workers get the training and reemployment services they need to return to work as quickly as possible. FIGHTING CRIME AND VIOLENCE
Violent Crime Has Fallen 5%: Since 1992, violent crime in Oregon has fallen 5%. [1992 and 1997 Uniform Crime Reports] Juvenile Arrests Down in Oregon: Oregon's juvenile arrests have decreased 18% between 1992 and 1997. [FBI, Uniform Crime Report, 1992 and 1997] 1,192 More Police: The President's 1994 Crime Bill has funded 1,192 new police officers to date in communities across Oregon. [through 7/99] Reducing Crime with Drug Courts: Working to reduce drug-related crime in Oregon, the Clinton Administration has awarded a Drug Court grant to the community of Prineville. The Administration had previously awarded grants to a number of Oregon communities including: Grants Pass, Portland, Roseburg, Unatilla, Eugene and Oregon City. 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. $4.2 Million to Combat Domestic Violence: Through the Violence Against Women Act, Oregon received $4.2 million in federal funds in FY98 to establish more women's shelters and bolster law enforcement, prosecution and victims' services. Nearly $685,000 in Grants for Battered Women and Children: In FY98, Oregon received approximately $685,000 in HHS's Family Violence Prevention Program grants to assist women and children fleeing domestic abuse, an additional $128,000 increase over FY98. $4.4 Million to Keep Drugs & Violence Out of Oregon's Schools: Oregon receives $4.4 million in FY99 for the Safe & Drug Free Schools Program, which invests in school security and drug prevention programs. MOVING OREGON RESIDENTS FROM WELFARE TO WORK
73,530 Fewer People on Welfare: There are 73,530 fewer people on welfare in Oregon now than there were at the beginning of 1993 -- a 62% decrease. [through 12/98] Child Support Collections Up 95%: Child support collections have increased by $102 million-or 95% -- in Oregon since FY92. [through FY98] Encouraging Responsible Choices-Preventing Teen Pregnancy in Oregon: 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 12% in Oregon. $13.1 Million for Oregon Welfare-to-Work: In 1998, Oregon received $8.6 million in Federal welfare-to-work state formula grants (the state matched $4.3 million in funding), helping Oregon welfare recipients get and keep jobs. In addition, Native American tribes in Oregon received $181,000 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. Portland and Salem have received a total of $1.2 million this year to fund innovative transit projects. INVESTING IN OREGON'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 Oregon the balanced budget provided $39.1 million in 1998. This compares to the 1995 Republican plan vetoed by President Clinton that would have denied health care coverage to 12,900 children in Oregon. Helping Over 91,000 Oregon 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, Oregon received $47.7 million in total WIC grant funding, helping 91,200 women, infants and children in need receive health and food assistance, 16,500 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 Oregon in 1997, 94% of two-year olds received the vaccines for diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis; 88% received the vaccine for polio; 88% received the vaccine for measles, and 92% received the vaccine for Haemophilus influenzae B, the bacteria causing a form of meningitis. Increased Funding for Ryan White by $25.9 Million: Between 1993 and 1998, Oregon communities received $25.9 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 44% in Oregon: The Clinton Administration's tobacco proposal, combined with the recently enacted state tobacco settlements, will cut youth smoking and resulting premature deaths 44% in Oregon by 2004. Between 2000 and 2004, 19,400 of Oregon's youth will be kept from smoking and 12,700 will be spared a premature tobacco-related death. [Treasury Dept., 2/99] 1,520,000 Americans in Oregon Cannot Be Assured They Have Patient Protections: Even if Oregon enacted all the protections in the Patients' Bill of Rights, 1,520,000 people in Oregon 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, 750,000 Oregon 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
$12.4 Million in Safe Drinking Water Funding: This year [FY99], thanks to President Clinton, Oregon will receive $11 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, Oregon will receive $1.4 million in Public Water Supply Supervision grants to help monitor drinking water quality and enforce health standards. Three Superfund Sites Cleaned Up: Since the President took office in 1993, the EPA has completed toxic waste site clean-ups in Portland, Joseph, and the Dalles, Oregon [through 6/99]. Only one site was cleaned up in the previous 12 years combined. Revitalizing Brownfields Projects in Oregon: As part of the Clinton-Gore Administration's efforts to clean up Brownfields, the EPA has awarded grants to Oregon communities Portland and Oregon Mills, as well as the Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District 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 Oregon's Communities: Portland and Josephine County were designated Enterprise Communities in December, 1994 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 1,400 To 1,700 New Affordable Housing Units in Oregon 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 Oregon alone, this proposal would mean an additional 1,400 - 1,700 quality rental housing units for low-income American families during the next five years. PROVIDING DISASTER RELIEF
$140 Million in Federal Emergency Assistance: Since 1993, Oregon has received $140 million in disaster relief. This includes $2 million in assistance for flooding in 1998, and $84 million to recover from severe flooding that occurred in February of 1996. [FEMA, 12/98] EXPANDING FUNDS FOR TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENT
Over $1.4 Billion in Federal Highway Aid: Since 1993, Oregon has received over $1.4 billion in federal highway aid. Included in this funding is $109.3 million for emergency relief in response to natural disasters and $714,171 for scenic byways. These funds have helped generate nearly 61,457 jobs. [through FY98] Over $92 Million in Aviation Funds: From FY93-FY98 Oregon received over $92 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 $862 Million in Transit Funds: The Federal Transit Administration has provided over $862 million since 1993 to support mass transportation in Oregon. Saving Lives and Property: In 1997 the United States Coast Guard saved 137 lives and over $55.8 million in property in Oregon.
Last Updated July 1999
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