Creating New Prosperity And New Hope For America's Cities

"We meet at an exciting time for America's cities - a time of new prosperity and new hope for the future. America is working again. 21 million people have new jobs - and so many of our neglected neighborhoods are coming back. Instead of a time of recession, we are living in the longest period of growth and prosperity in our history. And cities are the engines driving that growth." - Al Gore

Spurred by the economic policies and empowerment agenda of the Clinton-Gore Administration, most of America's cities are now sharing in our nation's historic economic expansion. But while most cities are showing clear signs of revitalization and renewal, some places still have yet to share in our prosperity.

Al Gore believes we can and must expand our economic prosperity to all our urban communities. To fulfill the vast potential of America's cities, Al Gore wants to reform and revolutionize our public schools, ensure our cities are safe from crime and violence, invest in a world class transportation system, and spur private investment and job creation. If we make the right choices today, America's cities can continue to help drive the economic growth and prosperity of the nation into the 21st Century. By standing with Al Gore, we can lead America forward and fulfill the great promise of our time - prosperity and progress for all our people.

COMMUNITY EMPOWERMENT AGENDA: ENCOURAGING INVESTMENT AND JOB CREATION IN OUR CITIES

• Third Round of Empowerment Zones. Al Gore supports the creation of a third round of the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Communities program. This successful initiative provides tax incentives and seed money to underserved communities. Under the Vice President's leadership, the Empowerment Zone/Enterprise Community program, which supports community-based, comprehensive revitalization strategies, has already leveraged over $10 billion in private, non-profit, and public sector investment.
• Technology Bonds. Based on the success of Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, this approach will offer a combination of assistance through: (1) interest subsidies for Technology Community bonds, or (2) competitive grants and loans to underserved communities. The program will focus especially on small town and rural America and underserved areas in our cities, to make sure that these communities are not left behind in the digital revolution. Using a Technology Bond, or other financial support, local communities will be able to develop the infrastructure necessary to compete for economic growth. To stimulate the creation of a local strategy for developing an information infrastructure, this program will offer targeted grants, on a partially matching basis, to communities for Internet build-out, and technology training for students.
• Make The Brownfields Cleanup Tax Incentive Permanent. Al Gore has led the effort to cleanup "brownfields" (abandoned industrial sites) in our communities. In 1997, a proposal to allow the immediate "write-off" of costs associated with the cleanup of "brownfields" was enacted as a temporary tax incentive. Al Gore supports making the "brownfields" tax incentive permanent. In addition, Al Gore will continue brownfield redevelopment through the Brownfields National Partnership, which streamlines resources from 20 federal agencies to address brownfields cleanup and redevelopment. This project alone will create more than 28,000 new jobs in urban areas.
• Livable Communities Initiative. Al Gore supports the Administration's Livable Communities Initiative which offers communities the tools they need to preserve and enhance open space, create or restore parks, and improve water quality. The initiative includes the Better America Bonds proposal, an innovative tax credit that promises to generate more than $9.5 billion in new resources over five years to help communities preserve green space, create or restore urban parks, protect water quality, and cleanup "brownfields" (abandoned industrial sites). The program also includes nearly $600 million in grants and loans to communities under the Administration's Lands Legacy Initiative to help protect local green spaces and improve air and water quality. The Community Parks Initiative provides technical assistance and funding to help city and suburban neighborhoods address their park and recreation needs.
• New Markets Initiative. Al Gore also supports the New Markets Initiative. It provides direct investments, incentives, and other programs to encourage private investment in traditionally underserved communities. It also helps rebuild and restore neighborhoods and spurs economic development.

INVEST IN KIDS AND PUBLIC SCHOOLS

• Bring revolutionary improvements to our public schools by creating an Education Reform Trust Fund and demanding strong accountability for results. Al Gore will elevate the teaching profession with aggressive plans to improve teacher quality - including rewards and bonuses to retain good teachers, and professional development and training for all teachers. He will fight to turn around failing schools and increase availability for after-school programs, assist states and local school districts to build and renovate public schools, wire every classroom to the Internet with the "E-rate," and work to make our schools safe. Al Gore also wants to create smaller schools with smaller class sizes, triple the number of charter schools by 2010 while fighting against voucher proposals, and help provide funding to hire and train 1,000,000 new teachers with a focus on high-need urban schools.
• Tax Credits For School Construction and Modernization. Last year, the National Center for Education Statistics reported that school buildings begin rapid deterioration after 40 years -- and that the average public school in America is 42 years old. Moreover, rising student enrollment means that communities around the country have to build an additional 2,400 schools by 2003. To address this critical need, Al Gore is renewing his commitment to modernize up to 6,000 schools-- over two years -- through the School Modernization Bonds and Qualified Zone Academy Bonds.
• Universal Pre-School. Al Gore will make high-quality voluntary preschool available to every 4-year-old and an increasing number of three-year-olds. He proposes to increase investment in Head Start and Early Head Start with a goal of enrolling one million children by 2002. Al Gore also intends to create an Early Childhood Learning Fund and help train early childhood educators.
• Make Quality Child Care More Affordable. Al Gore will help states and communities ensure high health, safety and educational standards in child care. Al Gore wants to increase the Child Care and Development Block Grant, expand the Child Care Tax Credit and provide tax relief to parents who stay at home. He will increase the maximum level of the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit from 30 percent to 50 percent boosting the amount of allowable childcare expenses a family can claim. Al Gore will also work to enable parents who stay at home with children under age one to take advantage of the CDCTC by claiming assumed child care expenses of $500.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

• Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Al Gore will expand and improve the quality of available low-income housing. Al Gore supports raising the allocation of low-income housing tax credits to states, which would raise the state per capita cap from $1.25 to $1.75 beginning in 2001 and index it for inflation thereafter. This proposal would provide incentives to build and make an additional 180,000 units of affordable housing available to working families over the next five years.
• Increasing The Number Of Incremental Housing Vouchers. Al Gore supports the Administration's proposal to expand the number of housing vouchers available to help America's hard-pressed working families move closer to job opportunities. Under this proposal an additional 120,000 housing vouchers would be created.
• Expanding Homeownership In Urban America. Al Gore will build on the successes of the Administration. In the first quarter 2000, the homeownership rate was 66.8 - the highest ever recorded, between 1992 and 1999, over 8.7 million households became homeowners and in central cities, homeownership now exceeds 50 percent - 50.4 percent in 1999, an all-time record. Al Gore will continue to work with the nation's homebuilders to build one million new homes in urban America over the next ten years.
• Encourage Mixed-Income and Other Innovative Public Housing Programs. Al Gore wants to expand on initiatives such as the Administration's Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) which funds a wide range of activities that build, buy, and/or rehabilitate affordable housing for rent or homeownership. It is also designed to avoid the concentration of poverty and integrate recipients of public assistance into the broader community. The program's flexibility allows States and local governments to use HOME funds for grants, direct loans, loan guarantees or other forms of credit enhancement, rental assistance or security deposits.
• Reducing Homelessness. Al Gore supports programs to efficiently address the problem of homelessness in America, such as the Clinton-Gore Administration's innovative plan called "continuum of care." This strategy addresses the complete needs of people who are homeless: shelter, food, counseling, job training, and more. Al Gore will also promote programs such as the Homeless Veterans Treatment Program to help alleviate homelessness, particularly among the nation's veterans, by developing the stock of public housing. Al Gore also wants to increase support for programs to treat mental illness and drug addiction.

MAKING OUR CITIES EVEN SAFER

• 50,000 More Police. Al Gore will continue the COPS initiative to fight crime and hire an additional 50,000 more police officers to protect families in communities across the nation.
• 10,000 Community Prosecutors. Al Gore will help communities hire 10,000 local and state prosecutors to ensure that criminals are tried without delay and put behind bars. Gore's plan would provide competitive grants to communities and states that match federal investments.
• Targeted Investments To Cool Off Crime "Hot Spots." Al Gore will establish a fund to target investments in crime "hot spots." This fund would provide resources to hire more police, pay officers overtime in troubled crime areas, equip neighborhoods with the latest crime prevention technologies, and help local law enforcement work in cooperation with federal authorities.
• Common Sense Gun Measures.
• Seek a nationally mandated, state-run system of photo licensing for all potential hand gun purchasers. No more loopholes or exceptions - anyone who wants to buy a handgun would have to have a license that would prove they are eligible to own a handgun (having passed a background check to prevent felons and the mentally ill from buying guns and demonstrated knowledge of gun safety).
• Ban so-called "junk guns," the cheap handguns so often used in violent crimes.
• Increase penalties for knowingly selling a gun to someone ineligible to purchase one; for using a gun in a violent crime; and for illegally trafficking guns.
• Establish a three day waiting period, one-gun-a-month, closing the gun show loophole, and requiring child-safety locks on hand guns.
• Provide grants to states to develop systems that end plea bargaining for criminals who use a gun in a crime, and implement a model federal test program.
• Oppose efforts to provide special legal protection for gun manufacturers.
• Oppose efforts to loosen existing limits on concealed weapons.
• Require gun manufacturers and federally-licensed sellers to report gun sales to a state authority. This requirement would greatly assist law enforcement in tracing ownership of guns if they are used in a crime.
• Breaking The Cycle Of Drugs And Crime In Our Cities. Al Gore has supported policies to end the cycle of drugs and crime including tougher drug penalties and enforcement, the creation of innovative initiatives such as drug courts, and increasing drug interdiction efforts.
• Expand the national media campaign started. Started by General Barry McCaffrey, this strategy will work to deter illegal drug use and provide funds for comprehensive drug education programs in the schools.
• Provide greater availability of treatment options for youth.
• Establish "Get Clean to Get Out and Stay Clean to Stay Out." Al Gore will enforce "zero tolerance" drug supervision by providing grants to help states and localities systematically test, treat, and sanction drug-involved probationers, prisoners, and parolees.
• Reform, Strengthen, and Double the Funding for Safe and Drug Free Schools.
• Expand the Number of Drug Courts.
• Sustain Funding for the Drug-Free Communities Program. Al Gore is committed to strengthening community based coalition efforts to reduce youth substance abuse. Since the program began (1997) some 474 communities applied for grants, but only 93 have been funded. We need to nurture more community based anti-drug efforts.
• Target Penalty Increases to Those who Use Kids to Sell Drugs and Selling Drugs on or Near School Property.

KEEP AMERICA'S CITIES MOVING INITIATIVE. Al Gore is committed to giving us more alternatives as we travel within and between our urban communities. The Keep America's Cities Moving Initiative is an investment in our economic prosperity, a clean environment and a high quality of life for America's families. The transportation choices available to the American people will be expanded through investments in light rail, high-speed rail, mag-lev and cleaner, safer buses.

• Converting to Modern, Cleaner and Safer Buses. Buses can be an important component of a community's transportation system. Although buses reduce traffic congestion, they can also contribute to air quality problems. That's why Al Gore supports new federal investments to convert municipal and school bus fleets to clean-burning fuels. These funds would also be used to make our buses safer for passengers by equipping buses with emergency radios, antilock brakes and other common-sense safety measures.
• Spurring New Rail Starts. The growing interest in rail transportation systems for light rail, subways and other mass transit systems far exceeds the available resources. Al Gore supports additional federal grants for the construction of new rail systems or the building of extensions to existing systems.
• Modernizing Existing Systems. As transit ridership grows, many existing rail systems, including subways and light rail, require modernization such as new electrical systems to ensure a high quality of service. Al Gore will increase federal grants to upgrade existing rail systems.
• Encouraging Transit-Oriented Development. Safer neighborhoods around transit stops can make transit a more viable choice for Americans. Al Gore will provide financial incentives to encourage the revitalization of neighborhoods around transit stations.
• Meeting Rural Transportation Needs. Rural communities face challenges in addressing transportation needs associated with moving people to work, ensuring mobility for the elderly and people with disabilities, and other unique needs. Al Gore will provide grants to communities to meet rural transportation challenges.
• Building High Speed Rail. With growing congestion on our highways and airports, it's time to give the American people a fast and efficient alternative for traveling between our communities. Al Gore is proposing a major commitment to build high-speed rail systems in major transportation corridors across the nation.
• Expanding and Improving the Existing Rail Network. In some places, travel on existing inter-city rail lines proceeds at a snail's pace, and other areas are entirely without service. Al Gore proposes new grants to Amtrak and the states for improving existing and expanding passenger rail routes.
• Renovating Rail Stations. In the past, inter-city rail stations were vital economic centers in cities and small towns across America. Al Gore proposes new grants to Amtrak and communities for rail station improvement.

INCREASE ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE HEALTHCARE

• Ensure by 2005 that every child has access to affordable health insurance. Al Gore wants to expand health care coverage for seven million uninsured working parents by expanding eligibility of the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to families with incomes of up to 250 percent of poverty (about $41,000 for a family of four) - an increase from the current 200 percent level. Al Gore will also lead an aggressive effort to reach every child who is eligible for Medicaid and CHIP who have not yet been signed up, and hold states that are not doing the job accountable.
• Dedicate a Large Amount of the Projected Budget Surplus to Extend the Life of the Medicare Trust Fund. Al Gore is committed to adding a needed prescription drug benefit for Medicare beneficiaries to make prescription drugs available to older Americans and people with disabilities. He will also protect and improve Medicaid benefits and payment systems for our most vulnerable populations.
• Ensure that People Coping with Mental Illnesses Receive the Same Care as Those Suffering Physical Illnesses. Through a comprehensive plan that provides access to full mental health coverage for all children, Al Gore wants to assist schools in addressing children with mental health needs, and supports families struggling to care for mentally ill family members.

Source: Al Gore for President 2000 Web Site