President Clinton entered the House chamber on January 27 to issue his seventh and final State of the Union address. The President outlined an ambitious election-year agenda saying that the United States “must shape a 21st Century revolution—of opportunity, responsibility, and community.” The 89-minute speech touched on a number of issues, from education to Social Security to gun control to health care. Following are highlights from the President’s remarks that are of particular importance to women and their families.
Child Care: Saying that working parents spend up to a quarter of their income on child care, the President proposed a child care initiative that would provide child care for an additional 400,000 children. He also called for an expansion of the child care tax credit and proposed to make the credit refundable for low-income families.
Crime: In the wake of the Columbine tragedy, the President urged Congress to pass “common-sense gun control legislation.” In addition to calling for background checks at gun shows, child safety locks on handguns, and a ban on large-capacity ammunition clips, he proposed photo licenses for handgun purchases. The President also urged Congress to reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, which expires this year.
Discrimination: The President asked Congress to pass “without delay” the Hate Crimes Prevention Act and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The Hate Crimes Prevention Act would expand federal hate crimes to include crimes based on gender, sexual orientation, or disability. The bill was included in the Senate’s FY2000 Commerce, Justice, State appropriations bill but was dropped in conference. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would prohibit employment discrimination based on sexual orientation. He also urged Congress to prevent employers and insurers from discriminating against individuals because of genetic information.
Education: The President detailed an education agenda designed to ensure that “every child will begin school ready to learn and graduate ready to succeed.” He called for a $1 billion increase for Head Start, “the largest in the history of the program.” He also proposed a “landmark” $30 billion college opportunity tax cut, which would provide a tax deduction for up to $10,000 in college tuition costs. Additionally, he stressed the need to double funding for after-school and summer school programs.
While asking Congress for continued support of his seven-year initiative to hire 100,000 new teachers, he also announced a new initiative to “recruit more talented people into the classroom, reward good teachers for staying there, and give all teachers the training they need.”
In addition, he repeated his call for school construction funding, proposing to repair 5,000 schools and build an additional 6,000 schools. He also pressed for doubling the Gear-Up program. The increase would provide mentors for an additional 1.4 million disadvantaged youth.
Equal Pay: Reiterating a theme from last year’s speech, the President said, “We can’t reward work and family unless men and women get equal pay for equal work.” He called upon Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen current equal pay laws.
Health Care: For the third year in a row, the President called upon Congress to pass a patients’ bill of rights. House and Senate conferees are set to meet during the second session to iron out differences between the bills each chamber passed last year. Citing numerous advancements in medical research, the President also proposed “an unprecedented $3 billion in the 21st Century Research Fund.” Saying that there are more than 40 million uninsured Americans, the President proposed to make low-income parents eligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Under the proposal, roughly a quarter of the nation’s uninsured would be covered.
On the international front, the President proposed an additional $150 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa and other countries. He also proposed a tax credit designed to “speed the development of vaccines for diseases like malaria, TB, and AIDS.”
Long-Term Care: During last year’s State of the Union address, the President proposed a $1,000 tax credit for those who provide long-term care for aging or disabled relatives. This year, he proposed to triple the credit to $3,000.
Medicare: The President reiterated his call to “strengthen and modernize” Medicare and proposed a plan that would dedicate $400 billion of the budget surplus to Medicare, ensuring solvency through 2025. He also proposed a tax credit to allow individuals ages 55-65 to buy into Medicare and called for a Medicare prescription drug benefit, saying, “These proposals would mark the largest investment in health care in the 35 years since Medicare was created.”
Minimum Wage: As he did last year, the President “implored” Congress to increase the minimum wage.
Social Security and Retirement Savings: Continuing last year’s pledge to shore up Social Security, the President called for a “bipartisan down payment on Social Security reform by crediting the interest savings from debt reduction to the Social Security Trust Fund.” Under this plan, he said Social Security would be solvent through 2050. Additionally, the President proposed new Retirement Savings Accounts that would allow “every low- and moderate-income family in America to save for retirement, a first home, a medical emergency, or a college education.” Under the proposal, the federal government would match contributions dollar-for-dollar. The President also proposed a tax credit for small businesses that provide pensions to their employees.
Taxes: The President sought an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) that would allow families with three or more children to receive up to an additional $1,100 in tax relief. He also called for a reduction in the marriage tax penalty.
