[Budget of the United States Government]
[V. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[8. Strengthening the American Community]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


 
                8.  STRENGTHENING THE AMERICAN COMMUNITY

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  We need to say that in the poorest neighborhoods of this country, people 
still have a chance to start a business, free enterprise still has a chance 
to take hold, people still have a chance to build a framework of community. 
And if we can't do that when the economy is strong, when can we do that? 
We have to do that.         
                                      President Clinton                                                        
                                      August 1997                                                               
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  Most Americans are enjoying the fruits of our strong economy. Poverty, 
welfare, and unemployment are down. Incomes and homeownership are up.
  But progress is not uniform. While many urban and rural areas are 
doing better, too many others have grown disconnected from opportunity 
and prosperity, and their isolation--the poor from the well-off, the 
jobless from those who work, those from one race or ethnicity from those 
of another--threatens to fray the fabric of our culture.
  In the early 20th Century, cities fueled America's economic growth. 
Still today, their future, and that of rural areas, remains central to 
our future as a Nation and, thus, to the future of all Americans, no 
matter where they live or work. We must connect residents of distressed 
neighborhoods to the jobs and opportunities of the regional marketplace, 
and replace economic distress with opportunity.
  The Administration believes the Federal Government can, and should, 
work with States, localities, businesses, non-profits, schools, 
families, and individuals to help create opportunities and offer 
incentives for addressing local problems. Across the Nation, the 
Government is working in partnership with other governments and 
institutions, whether to encourage volunteerism through the National 
Service program or provide communities with economic and tax incentives 
to encourage private investment through the Empowerment Zones and 
Enterprise Communities initiative.
  In the Nation's capital, the Administration is making a special effort 
to make Washington, D.C. a city of which all Americans can be proud. 
Having worked with Congress to restructure the Federal Government's 
relationship to the District last year, the Administration is focusing 
on how Federal departments and agencies can provide the District with 
technical help in such areas as education and law enforcement.

National Service

  National Service builds strong communities, educates children, 
develops citizen responsibility, and expands educational opportunity. 
The Corporation for National and Community Service, established in 1993, 
encourages Americans of all ages and backgrounds to help solve community 
problems and provides opportunities to engage in community-based 
service. The budget proposes $781 million for the Corporation, a 14-
percent increase over 1998, with the increase targeted to the 
President's America Reads initiative--an effort through which volunteer 
tutors will help children read well and independently by the end of the 
third grade.
  AmeriCorps enables young Americans of all backgrounds to serve in 
local communities through programs sponsored by local and national 
nonprofits. Participants serve full-or part-time, generally for at least 
a year. In return, they earn a minimum living allowance set at about the 
poverty level of a single individual and, when they complete their 
service, they earn an education award to help pay for postsecondary 
education or

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repay student loans. Over 100,000 individuals will participate through 
AmeriCorps's first four years, and the budget supports an AmeriCorps 
program of 56,000 members in 1999. The AmeriCorps program includes 
Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA) and the National Civilian 
Community Corps (NCCC).
  Among other national service programs:
  Service-learning programs supported by Learn and Serve America 
          grants engage students from kindergarten through college to 
          serve their communities and learn citizenship. The budget 
          proposes to fund opportunities for more than a million 
          students.
  The National Senior Service Corps provides opportunities for 
          citizens age 55 and older to use their time and talents to 
          meet community needs. The budget funds the Retired and Senior 
          Volunteer Program, the Foster Grandparent Program, and the 
          Senior Companion Program, enabling more than half a million 
          older Americans to serve.
  Most important of all, national service participants are getting 
things done.
  In one Tennessee project, AmeriCorps members helped improve 
          the health of 500 children by advising parents on proper 
          nutrition and early childhood health, assessing family health 
          risks, and increasing access to health education.
  In Washington State, AmeriCorps members helped cut violent 
          crime in one housing project by 30 percent through a program 
          that addresses juvenile crime, gang activity, school success, 
          and youth homelessness. The program offers a late-night 
          program for 400 high-risk youth, a street school that operates 
          six days a week, out-of-school time activities for K-12 youth, 
          and a program to enhance student success in schools.
  In New York City, a team of 30 older Americans that works 
          directly with children through tutoring and mentoring has 
          developed literacy programs, encouraged parent and grandparent 
          involvement, led community service events for the children, 
          organized afterschool and summer programs, and recruited 
          additional volunteers.

Empowerment Zones (EZs) and Enterprise Communities (ECs)

  As part of his 1993 economic program, the President proposed, and 
Congress enacted, the Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities 
program. Communities develop a strategic plan to help spur economic and 
community development and expand opportunities for their residents, and 
in return they receive Federal tax benefits, social service grants, 
technical assistance, and more flexibility in how they use Federal 
funds.
  EZs and ECs are parts of urban or rural areas with high unemployment 
and high poverty rates. For EZs, the Federal Government provides tax 
benefits for businesses, and offers grants to community groups for job 
training, day care, and other purposes. For ECs, the Government provides 
grants to community groups for the same array of purposes. Both EZs and 
ECs can apply for waivers from Federal regulations, enabling them to 
better address their local needs. In addition, special set-asides from 
Agriculture Department rural development programs are available to rural 
EZ/ECs.
  The 1994 competition for the first round of EZ and EC designations 
generated over 500 applications and created new local partnerships for 
community revitalization--even in communities not chosen. The 105 
selected communities made well over $8 billion in private-public 
commitments (in addition to the promised Federal resources), bringing 
greater economic opportunity to both distressed urban and rural areas.
  The Kentucky Highlands rural EZ, for instance, is using $11 million of 
EZ funds to expand the amount of development venture capital available 
in its borders. From the $5.6 million obligated to date, the EZ has 
leveraged $38 million in additional capital for 11 new manufacturing 
enterprises that have created 575 jobs and committed to create another 
1,600. In the six urban EZs, the private sector has made or committed 
over $2 billion in new investment, bringing greater opportunity to those 
cities. The Detroit

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                               Celebrating the Millennium and America's Treasures                               
                                                                                                                
  The new White House Millennium Council will lead the country in a celebration of the new millennium--         
initiating and recognizing national and local projects and efforts that contribute to the celebration in        
educational, creative, and productive ways. By stressing the creative achievements and accomplishments of       
Americans in exploration, innovation, and discovery, and by educating Americans, especially children, about our 
history, democracy, and civil society, the Council can help ensure that these values and traditions endure into 
the next century. The Council will work with Federal agencies, Congress, States, Tribes, elected officials,     
communities, citizens, and private and non-profit organizations to recognize the Nation's historical            
accomplishments, reflect on the forces shaping our society, and encourage thoughtful planning for the future.   
                                                                                                                
  The budget proposes $50 million for the National Park Service Historic Preservation Fund, working with the    
Council, to help public and private entities to commemorate the Millennium. These funds will support one of the 
most important tasks facing America at the turn of the century--to preserve America's treasures for future      
generations. These treasures include the historic buildings, sites, documents, objects, manuscripts,            
photographs, works of art, maps, journals, still and moving images, and sound recordings that document and      
illuminate our Nation's history and our cultural heritage.                                                      
                                                                                                                
  The budget also funds important cultural institutions and programs. It provides the resources to complete the 
Mall Museum of the National Museum of the American Indian, a public-private partnership between the Federal     
Government and the Native American community that will open to the public in 2002. It also provides increased   
funds to help the Smithsonian address the backlog of needed repairs at several of its major museums, such as the
National Museum of Natural History. In addition, the budget provides funds for the Kennedy Center to continue   
major interior renovations that will permit greater access by the disabled persons and better use of its space. 
Finally, the budget provides increases for cultural institutions, such as the Smithsonian and the National      
Endowment of the Arts, to digitize portions of collections and, in turn, enhance public access to them.         
                                                                                                                

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EZ alone has supported thousands of new jobs, helping to drop the city's 
jobless rate from 11 percent to 8.7 percent since 1994. In a recent 
report card on EZs in general, Standard and Poor's, the credit rating 
agency, concluded that, ``when executed successfully, [EZs] can 
contribute to the local economy and lead to an improvement in the 
issuer's credit rating.''
  But many communities that were not designated as EZs or ECs lack the 
seed capital to begin their revitalization efforts. Thus, in last year's 
budget, the President proposed a second round of EZs/ECs to stimulate 
further private investment and economic opportunity in distressed urban 
and rural communities and to connect residents to available local jobs. 
Congress authorized 22 additional EZs, and made qualified businesses in 
these EZs eligible for tax incentives, including up-front deductions for 
qualifying capital investments, new tax-exempt facility bonds, a new 
deduction for environmental remediation costs, and a new tax credit for 
holders of qualified Zone education ``academy'' bonds. This budget 
proposes flexible block grant funds, $100 million per urban EZ and $40 
million per rural EZ over 10 years, to complement the tax incentives and 
encourage comprehensive planning to revitalize these distressed areas.
  The program will continue to challenge communities to develop their 
own comprehensive, strategic plans for revitalization, with input from 
residents and a wide array of community partners. The Administration 
will invest in communities that develop the most innovative plans and 
secure significant local commitments. It will offer a competitive 
application process to stimulate the public-private partnerships needed 
for large-scale job creation, business opportunities, and job 
connections for families in distressed communities. Also, communities 
will receive priority consideration for funds from Federal economic 
development programs and for waivers of Federal requirements from the 
President's Community

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Empowerment Board, which the Vice President chairs. The upcoming 
competition will build on the President's Brownfields initiative, which 
promotes the clean-up and redevelopment of contaminated industrial and 
commercial sites. (For more information on the Brownfields program, see 
Chapter 4, ``Protecting the Environment.'')

Community Development Lending

  The Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI) Fund, which 
the President proposed and Congress established in 1994, expands the 
availability of credit, investment capital, financial services, and 
other development services in distressed urban and rural communities. By 
creating and expanding a diverse set of CDFIs, the Fund helps develop 
new private markets, create healthy local economies, promote 
entrepreneurship, restore neighborhoods, generate tax revenues, and 
empower residents. The Fund represents a new approach to community 
development that uses limited Federal resources to leverage significant 
private sector and local resources, promotes self-sustaining CDFIs, and 
catalyzes new community lending and investment activity by conventional 
financial institutions.
  CDFIs provide a wide range of financial products and services, such as 
mortgage financing to first-time home buyers, commercial loans to start 
or expand small businesses, loans to rehabilitate rental housing, and 
basic financial services. CDFIs include a broad range of institutions--
e.g., community development banks, low-income credit unions, community 
development loan and venture capital funds, and microenterprise loan 
funds.
  The budget proposes $125 million for the CDFI Fund, a $45 million 
increase over the 1998 level; the new funds would expand a training and 
technical assistance initiative and, in part, help accelerate the 
development of a secondary market for community development loans. To 
date, the CDFI Fund has received requests for almost $500 million in 
assistance--over six times the amount available--from over 400 
applicants. In 1997, the Fund chose 48 CDFIs to receive $38.3 million in 
financial and technical assistance. In addition, the Fund awarded $17 
million to 55 traditional banks and thrifts for increasing their 
activities in economically distressed communities and investing in 
CDFIs.
  The Fund can dramatically leverage private funds in distressed 
communities. For example, its $3 million investment in Self-Help of 
Durham, N.C., helped leverage $24 million in mortgage financing and 
commercial lending. In addition, the Fund can strengthen CDFIs 
themselves and expand their ability to lend and invest. The Santa Cruz 
Community Credit Union is using $1 million from the Fund to open a new 
branch to serve mostly low-income, Hispanic residents of Watsonville, 
California. With a $1 million loan from the Fund, the Tlingit-Haida 
Regional Housing Authority will begin home mortgage lending in southeast 
Alaska's three urban areas--providing one of the first sources of 
affordable mortgage loans to Alaska Natives in these markets.
  The budget also provides $400 million for the Department of Housing 
and Urban Development's (HUD) Economic Development Initiative, including 
the resources for a new Community Empowerment Fund to support economic 
development efforts and help create a secondary market for HUD's 
Community Development Loan Guarantee (Section 108) program. Through 
grants and loans, this new program would help State and local 
governments standardize the underwriting and documentation of loans to 
businesses in distressed areas, and expand credit for economic and 
community development lending.

Urban and Rural Development

  The Administration has worked to give communities flexible tools to 
develop affordable housing, revitalize their economies, and promote 
equal housing opportunity for all.
  Hoping to reverse a decline in homeownership, for instance, the 
Administration in 1994 launched an unprecedented partnership with 58 key 
public and private organizations to form a National Homeownership 
Strategy. The partners are reducing barriers to homeownership by cutting 
mortgage closing costs and down payment requirements; simplifying the 
process of financing home purchases and repairs; and opening markets for 
women, minorities, central-city home buyers, and others traditionally 
locked out of conventional

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                                             Enforcing Civil Rights                                             
                                                                                                                
  Federal civil rights laws reflect the Nation's respect for core values that bind together diverse segments of 
the American community. These laws protect Americans' rights to equal access to educational opportunities and   
equal opportunity in the workplace, and their rights to live where they want and practice the religious faith   
they choose. As the population grows more and more diverse, the Nation must continue to ensure that all of its  
citizens have the same chance to prosper.                                                                       
                                                                                                                
  Federal civil rights agencies enforce our laws against discrimination. Effective enforcement promotes the     
economic well-being of Americans who seek good jobs, a better education for their children, and the chance to   
become self-sufficient. The Nation must enforce its civil rights laws fairly, consistently, and aggressively,   
and that requires adequate funding for these agencies.                                                          
                                                                                                                
  The budget proposes $602 million for civil rights enforcement agencies, an increase of $86 million, or 17     
percent, over the 1998 level, including the necessary funds to improve compliance; expand the use of alternative
dispute resolution methods; improve information systems; and develop better data collection capabilities for    
research and enforcement.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                
  The budget provides a 15-percent increase, to $279 million, for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to
more quickly resolve private sector complaints; a 70-percent increase, to $52 million, for the Department of    
Housing and Urban Development to crack down on housing discrimination; and a 10-percent increase, to $72        
million, for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division to better coordinate Federal civil rights           
enforcement and to expand investigations and prosecutions of police brutality and violations of the Americans   
with Disabilities Act. (For more information on these initiatives, see Chapter 12 of Analytical Perspectives,   
``Civil Rights Enforcement Funding.'')                                                                          
                                                                                                                

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lending markets. Along with a strong economy and low interest rates, 
this effort has helped boost homeownership to 66 percent--an all-time 
high; 5.8 million Americans have become homeowners under this 
Administration, including record numbers of minorities.
  But the job is not done. Homeownership in central cities and among 
women, minorities, and lower-income Americans hovers at or below 50 
percent. Consequently, to boost homeownership among these groups, the 
budget proposes $25 million for a Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation 
pilot program to help renters with solid payment track records own their 
own homes. The budget also proposes a Home Loan Guarantee program to 
allow States to use HOME funds to leverage private loans for large-
scale, affordable housing developments in distressed areas. To expand 
housing opportunities and combat discrimination, the budget proposes 
that HUD fund fair housing enforcement using paired testers--a proven 
method to detect discrimination--in 20 communities in order to develop 
local indices of discrimination, identify and pursue violations of fair 
housing laws, and promote new community fair housing enforcement 
initiatives.
  To spur the private sector to develop more affordable rental housing 
for low-income Americans, the budget proposes a major expansion of the 
Low Income Housing Tax Credit, which will help develop another 150,000 
to 180,000 affordable housing units over the next five years. Currently, 
the credit helps develop 75,000 to 90,000 affordable units a year. The 
proposal, which will cost $1.6 billion over the next five years, will 
restore the value of the tax credit, which has eroded over the last 
decade due to an increase in building costs. The credit helps to reduce 
the cost of rent by an average of $450 a month for the average housing 
credit renter who, in turn, earns $13,300 a year.
  For public housing, the Administration has advanced the most profound 
changes in over a generation, replacing the most dilapidated 
developments with smaller scale, affordable housing and portable 
vouchers; restoring management excellence to troubled housing agencies; 
providing incentives for tenant self-sufficiency; and strengthening 
occupancy and

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eviction rules. The budget builds on the progress by supporting efforts 
to demolish 54,000 of the worst public housing units in the next three 
years and replace them with portable subsidies or newly constructed 
mixed income housing. The budget also proposes $283 million for 50,000 
portable housing vouchers for families seeking to move from welfare to 
work. Local housing agencies that work in partnership with State and 
local welfare agencies will get the flexibility to design programs to 
serve welfare families for whom housing assistance is critical for 
getting and retaining jobs.
  Because their needs are so different, no single approach will help 
both urban and rural communities. The Administration has proposed to 
give States, localities, and Tribes more flexibility in how they use 
USDA's Rural Development grants and loans for businesses, water and 
wastewater facilities, and community facilities such as day care centers 
and health clinics. The 1996 Farm Bill authorized this approach through 
a new Rural Community Assistance Program (RCAP), combining 12 separate 
USDA programs into a Performance Partnership that can tailor assistance 
to the unique economic development needs of each rural community. The 
budget proposes $2.9 billion in loans and grants for RCAP, four percent 
more than in 1998, and the full flexibility that the 1996 Farm Bill 
envisioned.
  The budget also boosts funding for the Commerce Department's Economic 
Development Administration (EDA). The EDA would create an Office of 
Community and Economic Adjustment Assistance to work directly with 
communities adversely affected by major plant closings and international 
trade agreements and increase the number of grants available to 
communities.

Government-to-Government Commitment to Native Americans

  The Administration honors its government-to-government relationship 
with Tribes by protecting critical, reservation-level programs, turning 
back congressional threats to Tribal sovereignty, and bringing together 
government leaders and resources to address important Tribal concerns. 
The budget protects these priorities and proposes more assistance to 
combat crime, foster educational opportunities, and promote 
environmental conservation. The budget proposes $7.8 billion, four 
percent more than in 1998, for Government-wide programs addressing basic 
Tribal needs and encouraging self-determination (see Table 8-1).
  A joint law enforcement initiative of the Interior (DOI) and Justice 
Departments, for which the budget proposes $182 million in 1999, will 
address sharply increasing crime rates in Indian country with more 
resources for drug and youth crime prevention programs, police 
investigators and officers, Tribal courts, and detention facilities. The 
Administration also proposes a new school construction initiative and 
more resources for school operations; education opportunity zones; early 
intervention partnerships; child care; technology to link schools, 
classrooms, and libraries; and teacher preparation and recruitment. 
Finally, the Interior and Commerce Departments recently issued a 
Secretarial Order to assist Tribes in promoting healthy ecosystems and 
developing conservation measures.
  DOI's Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and the Health and Human Services 
Department's Indian Health Service (IHS) comprise nearly
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                                          Investing in the Delta Region                                         
                                                                                                                
  The budget proposes $26 million to apply the successful economic development model of the Appalachian Regional
Commission (ARC) to help 219 distressed counties in the seven-State Lower Mississippi Delta Region, which has   
suffered from persistently high poverty and low economic growth for much of the past 40 years.                  
                                                                                                                
  The ARC's Federal-State partnership is a proven economic development tool that embodies balanced, equitable   
fiscal decision-making and that could dramatically improve the economic viability of the Delta Region.          
                                                                                                                
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                           Table 8-1.  GOVERNMENT-WIDE NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAM FUNDING                          
                                 (Budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)                                 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                               Dollar    Percent
                                                                  1997      1998      1999     Change:   Change:
                                                                 Actual   Estimate  Proposed   1998 to   1998 to
                                                                                                1999      1999  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIA...........................................................     1,639     1,702     1,844      +142       +8%
IHS \1\.......................................................     2,351     2,431     2,476       +45       +2%
All other.....................................................     2,925     3,357     3,507      +150       +5%
                                                               -------------------------------------------------
  Total.......................................................     6,915     7,490     7,827      +337       +4%
                                                                                                                
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ IHS program level includes both budget authority and Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance collections. 

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two-thirds of Federal funding for Native American programs.
  For the BIA, the budget proposes $1.8 billion, eight percent over the 
1998 level, including a five-percent increase for Tribal priority 
allocations, to meet basic local needs and improve the quality of life 
of a growing population; build strong Tribal governments; promote Tribal 
self-sufficiency; and fulfill the Federal trust responsibility to Native 
Americans. Over 90 percent of BIA operations funding goes for basic, 
high-priority reservation-level programs such as education, social 
services, law enforcement, housing improvement, and natural resource 
management.
   For IHS, the budget proposes $2.5 billion, a two-percent increase 
over the 1998 level, enabling IHS to continue to uphold the Federal 
Government's responsibility to promote the health of American Indian and 
Alaska Native people, communities, and cultures by providing quality 
curative and preventive medical care. In some cases, IHS is the only 
source of medical care available on remote reservation lands.
  IHS facilities continue to provide quality medical care. The budget 
proposes funds to help construct the Keams Canyon Service Unit on the 
Hopi reservation and a replacement for the Fort Defiance Hospital, an 
antiquated facility, on the Navajo reservation. In addition, the $30 
million a year in diabetes-related funding that IHS receives under the 
new Children's Health Insurance Program will help alleviate 
complications from diabetes, such as blindness, foot amputation, and End 
Stage Renal Disease among American and Alaskan Natives.
  BIA and IHS will continue to promote Tribal self-determination through 
local decision-making. Tribal contracting and self-governance compact 
agreements now represent half of BIA's operations budget, and over a 
third of IHS' budget. The self-governance agreements, which give Tribes 
greater flexibility to administer Federal programs on reservations, will 
likely grow in number to 74 in BIA in 1999, a 16-percent increase from 
1998. BIA and Tribes are negotiating to permanently implement the self-
governance program, ensuring its strong future and continued growth.
  Finally, after Tribal consultations on its December 1996 report, DOI 
submitted its ``Recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior for 
Settlement of Disputed Tribal Accounts'' to Congress in November 1997. 
This proposal reflects the Administration's commitment to resolve 
disputed Indian trust fund account balances through informal dispute 
resolution. The budget also supports the recently introduced Indian Land 
Consolidation Act Amendments, to address the problem of highly 
fractionated land ownership by individual Indians on reservations. Also, 
within the Administration's three-pronged approach to address trust 
fund-related issues, the budget supports DOI's Office of Special 
Trustee's trust fund management improvement

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project to resolve problems in individual Indian accounts, convert to a 
commercial-grade accounting system, and strengthen the management of the 
underlying trust assets.

The District of Columbia

  As President Clinton told congregants at Metropolitan Baptist Church 
in Washington, D.C. recently, the Administration is committed to being 
``a better neighbor'' to the District of Columbia.
  The President's comprehensive plan for the District, which Congress 
largely funded last year, was an important step along the way. By 
relieving the District of major financial burdens that it should never 
have had, the plan lays the groundwork for the District to restore its 
fiscal health.
  Under the plan, the Federal Government assumed certain functions in 
which it has a clear interest.
  Criminal Justice: The Federal Government now funds D.C.'s 
          Court System and other key elements of the District criminal 
          justice system, including the incarceration of sentenced 
          felons and supervision of all adult offenders.
  Medicaid: The Federal Government has assumed the role 
          typically played by both Federal and State governments under 
          this health insurance program, paying 70 percent of Medicaid 
          spending in the District (compared to the previous 50 
          percent).
  Pensions: The Federal Government is resuming responsibility 
          for an estimated $5.9 billion unfunded pension liability that 
          it transferred to the District in 1979.
  In exchange, the Federal Government eliminated its annual payment to 
D.C., which totaled $660 million in 1997, though it provided a one-time, 
$190 million payment for District operations in 1998.
  Under the President's plan, the District government estimates that it 
will save about $200 million in 1998 alone. To balance its budget in 
1998 and maintain balance thereafter, the District plans to launch major 
management reforms, cut spending, and finance part of its $528 million 
accumulated deficit.
  The Administration--through its departments and agencies--will 
continue to provide technical help and other assistance to the District 
in specific areas, such as education and law enforcement. The budget, 
for instance, proposes $20 million to help D.C. public schools implement 
reforms that hold the promise of improving student achievement, 
including expanding summer school, training teachers and principals, and 
placing reading specialists in every school.
  The upcoming year is a pivotal one for the Federal and District 
governments to implement the landmark changes in their relationship, and 
for D.C. to implement vital management reforms. The Administration, 
which strongly supports the District's right to self-governance, is 
committed to do its part, and it proposes to pay for certain special 
expenses that arise from District implementation of the President's plan 
in the areas of District Corrections, Courts, and Offender Services 
Agency operations.
  Moreover, the budget proposes to build on last year's plan by 
providing $100 million for economic development initiatives, including 
$50 million to fund an economic development entity created by the 
District; $25 million to make the proposed Washington Convention Center 
more accessible to the public through Washington's Metro subway system; 
and $25 million to fund management reform initiatives to improve the 
city's economic development infrastructure.

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                                           Expanding Public Television                                          
                                                                                                                
  The budget provides $450 million over five years to help the public broadcasting system make the transition to
digital technology, which will greatly expand educational, community service, and cultural programming. New     
digital technology will set the stage for four to six more channels and new innovative television applications, 
including high definition and interactive television.                                                           
                                                                                                                
  These funds--for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Commerce Department--will ensure that public 
broadcasting can take advantage of the transition while continuing to meet four core principles: education, non-
commercialism, universal access, and localism in the digital era.                                               
                                                                                                                

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