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Oct. 9, 2002
GovBenefits.gov Adds 23 New Benefit Programs; Website Continues its Rapid Expansion Efforts
The Department of Labor and the Office of Management and Budget today announced the
addition of 23 new Federal benefit programs to GovBenefits.gov, a website developed to
serve as a one-stop resource for government benefit eligibility information. The 23 new
programs bring the total number of programs featured on the GovBenefits.gov site to 133,
representing over $1.2 trillion in annual benefits.
"The addition of these new programs demonstrates our continued commitment to
establishing GovBenefits.gov as citizens' primary source for government benefit
eligibility information," said Patrick Pizzella, assistant secretary for
administration and management and CIO at the Department of Labor.
The new benefit programs are from the Departments of Agriculture (Emergency Loans),
Education (Special Education), Health and Human Services (Tribal Family Assistance
Grants), Housing and Urban Development (Mortgage Insurance: Purchase of Cooperative
Housing Units), Labor (Registered Apprenticeship), Veterans Affairs (Beneficiary Travel),
and State (Claims Against Foreign Governments). For a full list of programs, visit: www.govbenefits.gov
In addition to the new programs, the eligibility questionnaire was redesigned to reduce
the number of questions citizens need to answer and to simplify the benefit screening
process. The "Featured Links" section was expanded to include information about
other government resources, such as the General Services Administration's Federal Consumer
Information Center.
GovBenefits.gov is one of 24 key initiatives that comprise the President's E-Government
Strategy, an integral part of the President's Management Agenda to make it easier for
citizens to interact with the government, save taxpayer dollars, and streamline
citizen-to-government transactions. The project is the collaborative effort of 10 Federal
agencies including: Departments of Labor (managing partner), Agriculture, Education,
Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, State, Veterans Affairs,
the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Social Security Administration.
Web hosting services for GovBenefits.gov are provided by FirstGov, an interagency
initiative administered by the U.S. General Services Administration.
------ U.S. Labor Department news releases are accessible on the Internet at www.dol.gov. The
information in this release will be made available in alternate format upon request (large
print, Braille, audio tape or disc) from the COAST office. Please specify which news
release when placing your request. Call 202-693-7773 or TTY 202-693-7755.
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