[Budget of the United States Government]
[V. Preparing For the 21st Century]
[9. Building One America]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
9. BUILDING ONE AMERICA
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``We must continue to expand opportunity. Full participation in our strong and growing economy is the best
antidote to envy, despair and racism. We must press ahead to move millions more from poverty and welfare to
work; to bring the spark of enterprise to inner cities; to redouble our efforts to reach those rural communities
prosperity has passed by. And most of all, we simply must give our young people the finest education in the
world.''
President Clinton
August 1997
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After six years of the Clinton Administration, the American economy
continues to break records. Homeownership and job creation are at all
time highs, while crime, poverty, and welfare rolls continue to fall.
This new era of prosperity offers unprecedented opportunity, but the
doors of opportunity are not open equally to all. ``The economy has
never been stronger,'' the President has observed, ``but there are still
striking disparities in jobs, in investments in neighborhoods, in
education and criminal justice.''
We must create One America, not only to address the errors of the
past, but to assure our future. By the middle of the next century, there
will be no majority race in this country. This, said the President
recently, ``can either strengthen and unite us, or... weaken and divide
us... Today children of every race walk through the same door, but then
they often walk down different halls... they sit in different
classrooms, they eat at separate tables. Far too many communities are
all white, all black, all Latino, all Asian. Segregation is no longer
the law, but too often separation is still the rule.''
Because these challenges reach far beyond the Federal Government and
require our engagement as individuals, in our families, churches and
communities, the President began, in 1997, a national Initiative on
Race. The elements of this Initiative were three-fold: action, study,
and dialogue with communities and community leaders of all races and
regions to raise, discuss, and better understand the tensions that
divide us. A distinguished advisory board reported to the President
throughout their year of service. Later this year, the President will
issue his assessment to the American people. Many of the programs in
this budget are already part of the response.
To build One America, it is essential that we close the opportunity
gap. We must do this by increasing our efforts to spur economic
development and by expanding access to jobs with a future, to quality
education, to decent health care, and to safe, affordable housing. We
must guarantee that the criminal justice system works for all Americans.
And we must ensure that civil rights are enforced with vigor, for as the
President reminds us, ``we cannot forget one stubborn fact: There is
still discrimination in America.'' Legally-enforced segregation, of
course, is now a relic of another time. Yet, in housing, for example,
researchers using pairs of applicants matched in all respects but race,
find that half the blacks and Hispanics looking for a place to live face
discrimination--they are kept from seeing, buying or renting homes that
they can fully afford. Other situations are more subtle: the lack of
opportunity for some inner-city students, for example, to go to a top-
notch high school, to benefit from after-school programs, or to be
guided by mentors who help lead the way to college.
To build One America, we must also act to ensure economic opportunity
throughout our cities, across rural communities, and Tribal
reservations. There are still too many areas, rural and urban, whose
economies are isolated from the Nation's prosperity.
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In many cities, the economic base disintegrated years ago when the
manufacturing industry began to fail and factories moved away, leaving
behind unemployment, poverty, and social problems. In many rural areas,
the trend toward concentrations of fewer, much larger farms has left
small farmers unable to compete and in need of other ways to be able to
support themselves and their families.
The budget contains important new initiatives and expands current
programs to encourage investment. It includes initiatives to provide
communities with economic and tax incentives to encourage private
investment through fundamental elements of its development agenda--the
Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities program--and the New
Markets Initiative, and to encourage volunteerism and community service
through the National Service program. In these efforts, the Federal
Government works cooperatively in partnership with States, localities,
businesses, non-profits, schools, families, and individuals.
Jobs and Economic Development
The President has strongly supported efforts to strengthen and
encourage economic growth in distressed communities. The centerpiece of
this approach--Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities--has made
significant progress in promoting economic development in rural and
urban areas. Building on that progress, this budget proposes the New
Markets Initiative--a program to stimulate billions in new private
investment in America's untapped markets in urban and rural areas.
The New Markets Investment Initiative: The budget provides tax credit
and loan guarantee incentives to stimulate billions of new private
capital investments in targeted areas; creates a network of private
investment institutions to funnel credit, equity, and technical
assistance into businesses in America's new markets; and provides the
expertise to targeted small businesses that will allow them to use
investment to grow.
The New Markets Tax Credit: To help spur $6 billion in new
equity capital, this tax credit is worth up to 25 percent for
investments in a variety of vehicles serving these
communities, including community development banks, venture
funds and other new investment company programs created by
this initiative. A wide-range of businesses could be financed
by these investment funds, including small technology firms,
inner-city shopping centers, manufacturers with hundreds of
employees, and retail stores.
America's Private Investment Companies (APICs): Just as
America's support for the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation helps promote growth in emerging markets abroad,
APICs will encourage private investment in this country's
untapped markets by providing loan guarantees--administered by
the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the
Small Business Administration (SBA)--for private investors who
target larger businesses that are expanding within or
relocating to inner-city and rural areas.
Small Business Investment Companies New Markets Initiative:
Last summer, the Vice President challenged the SBA to find
ways to better meet the needs of minority firms and
underserved markets. The SBA is responding by offering more
flexibility and new financing terms--through a new type of
federally-guaranteed loan--to make it more attractive for
SBICs to invest in low- and moderate-income areas.
Other key elements include: New Markets Venture Capital Firms, which
will match equity of private investors with Government debt guarantees
and deferred interest to provide capital and expert guidance to inner-
city and rural entrepreneurs to transform their small businesses into
thriving companies; New Markets Lending Companies, which will allow non-
bank lenders with strategies to target their lending to underserved
areas to originate loans through the SBA; BusinessLinc, an innovative
public-private partnership, spearheaded by the Vice President and CEOs--
for which $3 million in
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Building One America for the 21st Century: The President's Initiative on Race
In June 1997, the President created his Initiative on Race. Led by an Advisory Board and involving thousands
of citizens from all races and communities, the Initiative created our Nation's first public forum on race.
Americans spoke candidly about their impressions and experiences of race in America, and shared their hopes, and
fears, about the future. This effort made an important first step toward bringing down the barriers that
continue to divide us.
For 15 months, the Advisory Board engaged issues such as civil rights enforcement, racial disparities in
education, economic opportunity, race and housing discrimination, negative racial stereotypes, crime and the
administration of justice, and immigration. The meetings highlighted America's common ground. Equally important,
they offered compelling evidence about the need to confront our past in order to change our future. The Board
suggested actions to address these issues, as part of what is needed to build a more equal country.
The Initiative made clear that we still must struggle, both to reconcile and overcome the past and to become a
part of the multi-racial and multi-cultural America that is our future.
Throughout the year, the Advisory Board made recommendations to the President and the Nation, which were acted
upon: to continue the dialogue that is needed; to continue public education about the facts of race in America
and the thousands of efforts in communities, schools, and churches Nation-wide to bridge racial divides and
create a larger community; to close the gap and ensure common opportunities in education, the workplace, our
homes and communities; to ensure common access to health care and to ensure the broad enforcement of laws
against discrimination. In the course of its work last year the Administration made progress in a range of
program areas, including those listed below. Many others are listed in this chapter and throughout the Budget.
Americans with Disabilities Act: A $1 million increase in the Department of Justice's Civil Rights
Division to enhance enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Educational Help for Low-Income Students: The Administration proposed, and Congress enacted, an early
intervention program for low-income students. The budget would double funding for GEAR-UP, the early
intervention program that provides funds to State and local partnerships to help students prepare for and
attend college.
Eliminating Health Disparities: $65 million in first-year funding was appropriated for an initiative
that sets a national goal of eliminating longstanding disparities in the health status of racial and ethnic
minority groups in the next decade. The budget includes $135 million to continue this initiative.
As these efforts continue, many other programs included by the President in the budget and described in this
chapter will advance these goals. Furthermore, later this year the President will present to the American people
a comprehensive report of his own vision. It will describe the steps that we as a Nation can take to overcome
the burdens of the past and realize the potential of One America in the 21st Century.
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seed money will encourage large businesses to work with small businesses
to improve economic competitiveness in small firms in urban and rural
distressed areas; and specialized small business investment companies,
which will be able to provide increased equity capital through expanded
tax incentives.
Community Development Financial Institutions (CDFI): The New Markets
Initiative also provides increased funding for CDFIs, which have
expertise in lending and investment in underserved areas, both rural and
urban.
In 1994, the President proposed, and the Congress established, the
CDFI Fund. CDFIs include a broad range of institutions--community
development banks, low-income credit unions, venture capital funds, and
microenterprise loan funds--that provide a wide range of products and
services, such as mortgage
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financing to first-time home buyers, commercial loans for small
businesses, and other basic financial services. 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 in
distressed urban and rural communities.
The Fund represents a new approach to community development that uses
limited Federal resources to leverage significant private sector
resources. Every CDFI that receives financial assistance from the Fund
must provide at least a one-to-one match with funds from non-Federal
sources. To date, the CDFI Fund has awarded over $120 million in
financial and technical assistance to CDFIs. In addition the Fund has
awarded nearly $60 million to traditional banks and thrifts for
increasing their activities in economically distressed communities and
investing in CDFIs.
The budget proposes $125 million for the CDFI Fund, including $15
million for a new microenterprise initiative that would provide
technical assistance grants to microenterprise intermediaries to assist
low-income and disadvantaged entrepreneurs. Microenterprises are very
small businesses that typically have fewer than 10 employees and
generally lack access to conventional loans, equity, or other banking
services.
Other programs that provide services to underserved markets include:
Department of Agriculture's (USDA's) Rural Development Programs:
Because their needs are so different, no single approach will help both
urban and rural communities. The Administration proposes 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 Advancement 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 $3.0 billion in loans and grants for RCAP, nine percent
more than in 1999 and the full flexibility that the 1996 Farm Bill
envisioned. It also includes the new Partnership Technical Assistance
grants and grants for early-warning weather systems in areas prone to
tornadoes.
Economic Adjustment Grants: On November 13, 1998, the President signed
the Economic Development Administration and Appalachian Regional
Commission Reform Act of 1998, to further leverage private sector
investment and create jobs in America's poorest communities. The budget
continues support for the Appalachian Regional Commission and provides a
$20 million increase for the Economic Development Administration's
economic adjustment program, which helps distressed communities recover
from sudden and/or severe economic downturns such as those caused by
increased foreign imports, international trade agreements, industry
downsizing, plant closings, environmental regulations, and natural
disasters.
Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC): The Administration continues
support for ARC to help 406 economically distressed counties in the 13-
State Appalachian region. The ARC's Federal-State partnership is a
proven economic development model of balanced fiscal decision-making
that has helped improve the economic viability of this region over the
past 35 years.
Empowerment Zones (EZs) and Enterprise Communities (ECs): The EZ and
EC initiative is the foundation of the Administration's empowerment
agenda for communities with high unemployment and poverty rates. This
initiative challenges these urban and rural communities to develop
comprehensive strategic plans for revitalization, with input from
residents and community partners. The program selects communities with
the most innovative plans and significant local commitments.
Investment in EZs and ECs is available in many forms. The Federal
Government provides tax benefits for businesses and flexible block
grants to communities for job training, day care and other purposes. EZs
and ECs can apply for waivers from Federal regulations, enabling them to
better address local needs. Special set-asides from USDA
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Investment in Rural America
Over the last year, the Administration reviewed the effectiveness of USDA's programs to address the needs of
rural America, focusing on achievements in rural development since 1993 and how rural financing needs are
changing.
Financial Credit: The lack of credit in rural areas is no longer a pervasive problem, but the range of credit
institutions serving rural areas is likely to be different, often narrower, than those serving urban areas. In
1994, 27 percent of rural counties were served by two or fewer banks, while 40 percent of urban counties were
served by 10 or more. The size of rural communities and the number of total rural borrowers often limit how many
lenders can profitably compete to make rural loans. Not all rural market segments are equally well served. In
some rural areas, the range of available financial services is still too narrow to ensure borrowers have access
to sufficient credit at competitive terms.
Housing: The 1990 Census data show that the cost of housing continues to be a serious problem for the rural
poor.
Nearly 22 percent of the Nation's 20.4 million nonmetro households paid 30 percent or more of their
income for shelter in 1991.
Nonmetro areas have a greater incidence of moderate or severe housing quality problems than metro
areas.
Innovations developed since 1993 to address the needs of rural areas have been structured to: address
diversity of need (through the flexible funding structure of the Rural Community Advancement Program-RCAP),
coordinate Federal and other programs collectively to help communities including EZ and ECs and Champion
Communities, and make the most of constrained resources (e.g., leveraging). Building on the findings of the
Administration's review, the budget continues and improves upon these approaches through the proposed
Partnership Technical Assistance Grants, which will provide technical assistance to under-served communities to
create strategic plans, better use and coordinate USDA's rural development grant and loan programs, and achieve
sustained economic viability, job creation, and improved quality of life.
Since 1994, USDA's Water 2000 initiative--an effort to bring safe drinking water to rural communities with
serious water problems--has funded almost $1.6 billion in loans and grants on approximately 1,400 high-priority
Water 2000 projects Nation-wide. With proposed 2000 RCAP funding (12 percent above 1999), USDA expects to fund
300 clean water systems out of the $1.5 billion targeted for water and wastewater programs. Additional RCAP
goals in 2000 include providing 100,000 new or saved jobs, compared to 82,000 in 1998, through the Business and
Industry loan programs, intermediary relending program, and community facilities programs. In 2000, USDA will
also reduce the number of rural residents living in substandard housing by providing $4.3 billion in single
family housing loans and loan guarantees providing 50,500 new or improved homes.
rural development programs are available to rural EZs and ECs.--------
Original EZs and ECs: Designated in 1994, these EZs and ECs
are already showing promise of success. The Rio Grand Valley
EZ, for instance, is using $40 million of EZ funds to expand
businesses and rehabilitate housing and educational
facilities. It has already used $11 million of EZ funds to
leverage $100 million in additional capital to create or save
1,500 jobs, train 900 persons, and serve 3,200 youth in
developmental programs.
Additional EZs and ECs: The Administration has worked to
expand the reach of these initiatives to other distressed
communities. In 1997, Congress authorized 22 additional EZs
and made qualified businesses in these zones eligible for tax
incentives including: up-front deductions for qualifying
capital investments; new tax-exempt facility bonds; new
deductions for environmental remediation costs; and new tax
credits for holders of qualified zone education academy bonds.
In January 1999, the Administration announced that it had
designated 20 new Zones, selected
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on a competitive basis, from the applications of more than 250
communities.
Flexible grants will be used by these new Zones to carry out
comprehensive revitalization strategies. In 1999, Congress provided
first-year funding of $55 million for the new EZs, and authority and $5
million in first-year funding for 20 new rural Enterprise Communities
announced in January.
The budget also proposes mandatory funding for 10 years for a total
commitment of $1.6 billion: $100 million a year for urban EZs; $50
million in mandatory funding over 10 years for rural EZs; and $5 million
a year for rural ECs. It also provides $20 million in HUD funding for
technical assistance and planning and implementation grants and $45
million to support 15 new Strategic Planning Communities. It also
includes a new USDA program to provide $5 million for partnership
technical assistance grants to help rural communities develop
comprehensive strategies for revitalization and to better coordinate
Federal assistance. In addition, the budget proposes a $50 million
Regional Empowerment Zone Initiative to assist urban EZs and ECs in
linking their economic development strategies to their broader
metropolitan regional economies to increase youth employment.
Designated EZ and EC communities will receive priority consideration
for funds from Federal economic development programs and for waivers of
certain regulatory requirements from the Community Empowerment Board
chaired by the Vice President.
Livability Initiative: The budget proposes six new investments as part
of the Livability initiative. The budget includes an unprecedented
request for Community Transportation Choices, a $6.1 billion mass
transit program, a $1.8 billion congestion relief and air quality
improvement program, and $614 million to implement innovative community
based transportation programs; $9.5 billion over five years for Better
America Bonds, a new State and local bonding authority for green space
preservation, water quality enhancement, and clean up of abandoned
industrial sites; and a $50 million HUD Regional Connections Initiative
to promote regional ``smart growth'' strategies and complement the
Administration's other regional efforts; Regional Connections matching
grants will help local partnerships design and pursue smarter growth
strategies across jurisdictional lines. The budget also proposes $40
million for a Community-Federal Information Partnership to provide
communities with grants for easy to use information tools to help
develop strategies for future growth; $130 million for Regional Crime
Data Sharing to expand programs to help communities share information to
improve public safety; and $10 million for Community-Centered Schools, a
new grant program administered by the Education Department to encourage
school districts to involve the community in planning and designing new
schools. Also icnluded in the budget is the Lands Legacy initiative (see
Chapter 6), which will complement the Livability agenda, emphasizing
land conservaton; smart growth; and partnerships with State and local
governments, land trusts, and other non-profit grouops to preserve open
spaces in urban, suburban, rural, and coastal areas. As part of the
broader Livability Initiative, the budget proposes $50 million for a new
HUD program that will support local partnerships that are designing
``smart growth'' strategies. Partnerships that cross jurisdictional
lines will receive grants to address problems of sprawl and congestion
in ways that address the needs of both cities and suburbs. The outcome
will be development that reduces commute times, preserves open space,
and provides a balanced distribution of economic opportunity and access
to affordable housing regionwide.
Urban and Rural Development and Increasing Homeownership
In 1994 the Administration launched an unprecedented partnership with
58 key public and private organizations to form a National Homeownership
Strategy to increase homeownership. Along with a strong economy and low
interest rates, the Administration's policies have helped boost
homeownership to 66.8 percent--a new all-time high; 7.4 million
Americans have become homeowners under this Administration, including
record numbers of minorities.
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Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Loan Limits: The Administration's
successful 1999 proposal to increase the FHA mortgage limit will allow
FHA to help more families purchase their first homes, especially in
areas with high housing prices. Reforms of FHA's property disposition
practices, starting this year, will reduce costs and stabilize
neighborhoods.
Play-by-the-Rules: Also in 1999, the Administration proposed, and
Congress enacted, a $25 million Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Play-by-the-Rules pilot program. This program will allow renters with
solid payment track records to own their own homes. The budget proposes
a second $15 million investment in this initiative.
Low-Income Housing Tax Credit: The budget proposes to expand the Low-
Income Housing Tax Credit to spur the private sector to develop more
affordable low-income rental housing. The proposal will cost $1.6
billion over the next five years and help develop another 75,000 to
90,000 units per year. It will restore the value of the tax credit,
which has eroded over the last decade due to an increase in building
costs, helping to reduce rents by an average of $450 a month for the
average assisted renter who, earns $13,300 a year.
Public Housing Program: In 1998, Congress passed comprehensive public
housing reform legislation, the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility
Act. The Act increases the availability of Federal housing assistance to
very poor families with limited housing choices while at the same time
promoting a greater mix of income and new administrative flexibility in
public housing.
The budget builds on these reforms and reduces poverty concentrations
by providing $625 million in HOPE VI grants to local housing authorities
to demolish an additional 20,000 dilapidated public housing units and
replace them with portable subsidies or newly constructed mixed income
housing. These funds provide sufficient resources to achieve the
Administration's goal of demolishing 100,000 of the most severely
distressed units. The Administration also proposes $580 million for
100,000 portable housing vouchers, including 25,000 for families seeking
to move from welfare to work, 18,000 to help homeless move to permanent
housing with supportive services, and 15,000 to assist the extremely
low-income elderly with housing. 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 to getting and retaining jobs.
Elderly Housing Program: The budget expands HUD's elderly housing
program by providing mandatory funds for 15,000 new housing vouchers
targeted at the elderly, in addition to $660 million in discretionary
resources. Together this funding will address the changing needs of the
elderly population and reconfigure an aging housing stock to better
serve the frail elderly. Discretionary spending of $660 million will
provide grants to non-profits for construction of 5,970 units and
conversion of some projects to assisted living facilities, using a
combination of capital grants and service coordinators to bring
community services to residents. The budget permanently authorizes
15,000 new housing vouchers linked to Low-Income Housing Tax Credit
properties to make these units affordable to extremely low-income
elderly.
Regional Affordable Housing: The budget also proposes a new
demonstration program, the Regional Affordable Housing Initiative that
will award funds competitively to provide technical assistance and
project development to five regions committed to creating and adhering
to an affordable housing plan that integrates job development with
housing production on a regional basis.
Closing the Opportunity Gap
The budget includes numerous programs to narrow disparities and to
increase economic opportunity in our Nation, so that we may achieve the
goal of building One America. What follows are selected examples of such
programs in areas including education, national service, health, and
justice.
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Education
Head Start: Among the President's highest priorities, Head Start will
serve 877,000 low-income children in 2000, providing comprehensive child
development services and helping parents get involved in their
children's lives. Since 1993, the President has worked with the Congress
to increase annual Head Start funding by 68 percent. This year's
proposal will keep the program on track to meet the President's goal of
serving one million children by 2002. The President proposes to focus
resources this year to boost minority participation in Head Start,
particularly in areas with recent influxes of limited English-proficient
children.
Title I--Education for the Disadvantaged: This program provides funds
to raise the educational achievement of disadvantaged children. The
Title I Account will receive $8.7 billion in 2000, a $373 million
increase over 1999. This funding includes resources for a new
Accountability Fund, which would support immediate and significant State
and local interventions in the lowest performing schools to improve
student achievement.
The End of Social Promotion: The President is committed to ending
social promotion and will work to give students the tools they need to
meet challenging academic standards. The budget proposes an expansion to
the 21st Century Community Learning Centers, enabling more than 7,500
schools to open their doors before and after the school day and during
the summer.
Hispanic Education Agenda: Because the educational achievement of
Hispanic-Americans continues to lag behind that of other groups, in 1999
President Clinton proposed, and the Congress enacted, the first-ever
Hispanic Education Agenda. The budget continues support for this plan by
proposing increases for Bilingual Education, Adult Education, Migrant
Education, Comprehensive School Reform, High School Equivilancy Program,
and College Assistance Migrant Program, among others.
GEAR-UP: GEAR-UP will provide increased funds for States and local
partnerships to help low-income students prepare for and attend college.
These and other programs designed to ensure educational opportunity
for disadvantaged Americans are discussed in Chapter 3, ``Investing in
Education and Training.''
National Service
The President has consistently supported and encouraged community
service and volunteerism through such programs as AmeriCorps and other
programs supported through the Corporation for National and Community
Service. Volunteerism and community service have been a strong and
important tradition in American ever since its founding. In 1994,
President Clinton signed the King Holiday and Service Act making the
national holiday a day of service that would bring people together,
promote racial cooperation and help to solve problems through citizen
action.
The Corporation for National Service: This program encourages
Americans of all ages and backgrounds to help solve community problems
and provides opportunities to engage in community-based service. The
budget proposes $848 million for the Corporation, an 18.6 percent
increase over 1999.
AmeriCorps: Over 150,000 individuals will have participated in
AmeriCorps in the first five years. The program allows 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 repay student loans.
The National Senior Service Corps: This program 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.
Health Care and Services
Providing Quality Health Care to Native Americans: The budget proposes
an increase
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of $170 million for IHS, which will provide for many services, including
exapanded breast cancer screenings, dental services, immunizations, pre-
natal care and more. In addition, the Administration will coordinate
efforts to ensure that HHS health grants provide assistance to Native
Americans, review reimbursements from Medicaid and Medicare, and
increase vigilance to ensure that Federal funds are used properly.
Help to reduce racial disparities in health status: Despite
improvements in the Nation's overall health, continuing disparities
remain in the burden of death and illness that certain minority groups
experience. For example, the infant mortality rate for African-Americans
is more than twice that of Caucasians. To address this and other
disparities, the budget includes $135 million for health education,
prevention, and treatment services for minority populations.
(For additonal information see Chapter 5, ``Strengthening Health
Care.'')
Justice
Criminal Justice: The administration of criminal justice in America
reflects the same racial and ethnic disparities as other aspects of
American society, with differing rates of incarceration, sentencing and
imposition of the death penalty. For example, black inmates comprise 50
percent of Federal prison population, four times their proportion of the
general population. These disparities create a distrust of law
enforcement in many minority communities. Moreover, criminal
victimization rates, particularly with regard to violent crimes, are
substantially higher for minorities. The Hate Crimes Initiative
addresses one aspect of this complicated area. President Clinton first
announced the addition of approximately 50 FBI and Federal prosecutors
to enforce the laws against hate crimes in 1997 at the White House
Conference on Hate Crimes. The budget proposes $31 million to continue
the battle against hate crimes in this Nation.
(For additional information, see Chapter 8, ``Enforcing the Law.'')
Civil Rights Enforcement: Since the civil rights movement eliminated
the most obvious forms of discrimination, including segregation, it has
become increasingly difficult to document remaining discrimination in
areas such as housing, employment, credit and insurance. The budget
includes $663 million for funding
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Table 9-1. CIVIL RIGHTS ENFORCEMENT FUNDING
(Budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dollar Percent
1998 2000 Change: Change:
Actual Proposed 1998 to 1998 to
2000 2000
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission..................... 242 312 +70 +29%
Housing and Urban Development:
Fair Housing Activities........ 30 47 +17 +57%
Justice: Civil Rights Division.. 65 82 +17 +26%
Labor: Ofice of Federal Contract
Compliance Programs............ 62 76 +14 +23%
Education: Office for Civil
Rights......................... 62 73 +11 +18%
Health and Human Services:
Office of Civil Rights......... 20 22 +2 +11%
Agriculture: Civil Rights
Programs....................... 15 19 +4 +27%
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. 9 11 +2 +22%
Transportation: Office of Civil
Rights......................... 6 8 +2 +28%
Labor: Civil Rights Center...... 5 6 +1 +14%
EPA: Office of Civil Rights..... 2 2 ........ ........
Justice: Attorneys General...... ........ 5 5 ........
---------------------------------------
Total......................... 518 663 145 28%
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Table 9-2. GOVERNMENT-WIDE NATIVE AMERICAN PROGRAM FUNDING
(Budget authority, dollar amounts in millions)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dollar Percent
1998 1999 2000 Change: Change:
Actual Estimate Proposed 1999 to 1999 to
2000 2000
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
BIA........................................................... 1,703 1,746 1,901 +155 +9%
IHS........................................................... 2,099 2,242 2,412 +170 +8%
Program level (non-add) \1\................................. (2,431) (2,652) (2,822) (+170) (+6%)
All other..................................................... 3,355 3,762 3,865 +103 +3%
-------------------------------------------------
Total......................................................... 7,157 7,750 8,178 +428 +6%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ IHS program level includes both budget authority and Medicaid, Medicare, and private insurance collections.
civil rights enforcement agencies, an $84 million or 15-percent,
increase over the 1999 level of $579 million. The budget proposes a
total of $312 million for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(a 12-percent increase); $82 million for the Department of Justice's
Civil Rights Division (a 19-percent increase); $76 million for the
Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs
(a 17-percent increase); and $47 million for HUD's fair housing
activities (an 17-percent increase). Additionally, over $10 million
will be used by the USDA to improve civil rights enforcement and
program outreach to under-represented customers. (See Table 9-1 for
civil rights enforcement funding.)------------------------------------
The budget proposes to target $10 million to identify and document
discrimination. These funds include $7.5 million for the Department of
Housing and Urban Development to expand studies that document
discrimination in the housing market. The budget provides additional
funds to encourage other agencies to begin tracking discrimination, and
also funds the creation of a coordinated research agenda for Federal
agencies to document discrimination in a variety of areas.
Commitment to Native Americans
The Administration honors its government-to-government relationship
with Tribes by protecting critical, reservation-level programs, and
bringing together government leaders and resources to address priority
Tribal concerns, such as crime and educational opportunities. The budget
proposes $8.2 billion, six percent more than in 1999, for Government-
wide programs addressing basic Tribal needs and encouraging self-
determination (see Table 9-2).
Law Enforcement: The second year of the Interior and Justice
Departments' joint law enforcement initiative, for which the budget
proposes $164 million in 2000 (50 percent over 1999), will continue to
address high crime rates in Indian country with more resources for drug
control and youth crime prevention programs, equipment, detention
services, crime reporting surveys, and officer hiring and retention.
Education: The Administration is continuing its commitment to
education by systematically expanding the school construction initiative
to address Indian reservations' school repair and replacement needs. As
part of the school modernization proposal, Interior's Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) will receive a set-aside in bond authority ($200 million
in both 2000 and 2001, plus up to $30 million to ensure bond principal
repayment) for its schools on Indian reservations in need of replacement
or major repairs. In addition to school construction, BIA will increase
resources for school operations; early intervention partnerships; child
care; and technology within schools, classrooms and libraries. The
Nation-wide class size reduction initiative also includes a set-aside
for BIA schools. A separate Education Department initative
[[Page 139]]
will hire 1,000 new Indian teachers and provide professional
development.
Bureau of Indian Affairs and Indian Health Services: The BIA and the
Health and Human Services Department's Indian Health Service (IHS) make
up nearly two-thirds of Federal funding for Native American programs.
For the BIA, the budget proposes $1.9 billion, nine percent over the
1999 enacted level. 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
resources management.
For IHS, the budget proposes $2.4 billion, a substantial increase of
eight percent over the 1999 level. This increase would enable IHS to
continue expanding accessible and high-quality health care to its Native
American service users, through IHS' existing network comprised of over
540 direct health care delivery facilities (discussed earlier in this
chapter). This increase reflects a four-pronged approach for IHS:
substantial increase in 2000, access to health grants, Medicare and
Medicaid reimbursements, and vigilance on fraud and abuse, which is
discussed in detail in Chapter 5, ``Strengthening Health Care ).''
The budget also supports access to health services and improves health
status of Native American by ensuring that IHS' health facilities are
adequately maintained. Within the increase, IHS will continue the
construction of the Navajo Fort Defiance Hospital, the Parker Health
Clinic and three to eight dental units. 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.
Tribal Contracting and Self-Governance: 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 40 percent of IHS' budget.
Indian Trust Fund Balances: The Administration is committed to
resolving disputed Indian trust fund account balances through informal
dispute resolution and supports the unique government-to-government
relationship that exists in Indian trust land management issues. After
Tribal consultations, BIA submitted its recommendations to Congress in
November 1997. Legislation reflecting these recommendations was proposed
in 1998, but not enacted. It will be re-proposed in the 106th Congress.
Trust Land Management: As part of BIA's commitment to resolving trust
land management issues, BIA will re-propose legislation to establish an
Indian Land Consolidation program to address the ownership fractionation
of Indian land. In 1999, BIA will devote $5 million to three pilot
projects in Wisconsin in cooperation with Tribes, to purchase small
ownership interests in highly fractionated tracts of land from willing
sellers. The budget proposes to double funding for this program.
Trust Management Improvement Project: The budget provides $90 million
for DOI's Office of Special Trustee's trust management improvement
project, an increase of $51 million over 1999. Current activities
include verifying individual Indian's account data and converting these
data to a commercial-grade accounting system. Ownership, lease, and
royalty information related to the underlying trust assets will also be
verified and converted to a recently acquired commercial asset
management system.
Commitment to the District of Columbia
As part of the 1997 balanced budget agreement, the President proposed,
and Congress enacted, a comprehensive financial restructuring plan for
the District of Columbia. It relieved the District of major financial
burdens and laid the groundwork to restore the District's fiscal health.
Due to prudent fiscal management and on-going efforts to build private
investment, the District--facing bankruptcy only five years ago--
produced a budget surplus in 1997 and 1998. If the District continues to
balance its budget through 2000, it will regain full home-rule.
Under the comprehensive financial restructuring plan, the Federal
Government assumed certain functions in which it has a clear interest.
[[Page 140]]
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).
Criminal Justice: The Federal Government now funds the District'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. By 2001, all adult-sentenced felons will be in
the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP). The budget includes
$393 million to implement the President's plan for District courts and
corrections and $255 million to accomodate the transfer of D.C. inmates
for which FBOP assumed responsibility.
Pensions: The Federal Government has resumed responsibility for an
estimated $5.9 billion unfunded pension liability that it transferred to
the District in 1979.
The Federal Government eliminated its annual payment to the District,
though it provided a one-time, $190 million payment for District
operations in 1998 and provided $248 million in funding for earmarked
economic development and infrastructure investments in 1999. To maintain
a balanced budget in the future, the District has launched major
management reforms, cut spending, and directed a portion of budget
surpluses to eliminate its accumulated deficit by 2000.
The Administration--through its departments and agencies--will
continue to provide technical help and other assistance to the District
in such areas as education and law enforcement. The Administration
strongly supports the District's right to self-governance and is
committed to do its part.
Public Television in the Digital Age
The budget provides a total of $414 million for 2000 through 2003 for
the public broadcasting system's transition to digital technology.
Digital broadcasting will allow greatly expanded educational, community
service, and cultural programming through innovative applications,
including high-definition and interactive television. Funding through
the Commerce Department will be devoted to promoting digital
transmission, while funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting
will be for digital program production and development capabilities.