Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce New Childcare Facility in Luverne
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), a member of the Senate Education Committee, announced federal funding they secured last year to renovate a vacant facility in Luverne, Minnesota into a childcare center has been disbursed. The project will help the city purchase and renovate a facility into a new center that will accommodate 186 infants, toddlers, preschool, and school-age children. The renovated space will also accommodate staff and administrative spaces, a gymnasium, and food preparation kitchen. “Too often I have heard that parents around the state, including in Rock County, have difficulty finding safe, reliable, and affordable child care in their communities,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We worked to secure a federal grant for Luverne to open a new child care center to serve hundreds of kids and expand options for parents.” “With few options for childcare in this area, working families are put in a serious bind. How can parents work without a safe, affordable place for their kids to go while they are at work?” said Senator Smith. “Luverne is leading the way in creating a community young families will want to live in, and this new facility is a testament to their hard work.” Rock County has over 350 kids below the age of five who need childcare, but capacity for just 240 of them, according to First Children’s Finance. Over the last ten years, almost half of the nearly 60 home child care providers in Rock County have left the field or retired. For some families, it makes more financial sense stay home rather
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Colleagues, Demand VA Improves Care for Victims of Sexual Assault
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), led by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT), joined her colleagues to send a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) urging the Department to take immediate steps to improve the readiness of VA facilities and staff to address the needs of veterans after experiencing a sexual assault. The letter comes as a result of a concerning VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report finding significant shortfalls in care provided by VA to veterans who seek care after sexual assault. The letter was also signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Angus King (I-ME), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ). “We urge the Department to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in the [OIG] report and take a more proactive stance towards preparing facilities, both emergent and non-emergent, and staff for how to respond to encounters related to sexual assault,” wrote the Senators to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Despite the low volume of emergent acute sexual assault victims presenting in VA emergency departments and urgent care centers, we expect the Department to ensure our veterans receive the best possible health care and services, either onsite or via a warm handoff to a community provider.” The Senators highlighted VA’s “unacceptable” shortfalls in providing
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress
WASHINGTON, D.C. [4/28/21]—This evening, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement in response to President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress: “First, I want to thank Chad Dunkley for being my virtual guest at President Biden’s Joint Address to Congress. Chad serves as CEO of New Horizon Academy, a family-owned company in Minnesota that has been serving young kids for 50 years. New Horizon Academy is one of the many childcare providers that the American Rescue Plan will help. While I wish Chad could have been here in-person, it was an honor for him to be my guest. “More
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Introduces Bipartisan Bills to Help Students, Families Make Financially Sound College Decisions
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/29/2021]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced three bipartisan bills to help students and their families better understand the cost of college to avoid sticker shock, find the best value, and learn about student loans. The Net Price Calculator Improvement Act improves net price calculators to help students understand higher education costs and financial aid figures before they apply. The Understanding the True Cost of College Act creates a universal financial aid award letter so students can easily compare financial aid packages between schools. The Know Before You Owe Federal Student Loan Act makes loan counseling an annual requirement before new loans are disbursed—rather than just for
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar & Patty Murray Push Relief for Exclave Communities, Including Minnesota’s Northwest Angle and Washington’s Point Roberts
WASHINGTON, D.C. [4/29/21]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), along with Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.), introduced legislation that would provide relief to Minnesotans in the Northwest Angle and Washingtonians in Point Roberts that have been hurt by COVID-19 travel restrictions between the United States and Canada. Their Remote Recreational Small Business Interruption Program Act would provide forgivable loans to small businesses in exclaves of the contiguous United States near the Canadian border. In order to safely reach the Northwest Angle, Americans must travel through Canadian territory by automobile at a border crossing. The alternative route is a 40-mile boat trip across Lake of the Woods. Sens. Smith
U.S. Sen. Smith: Convicting Derek Chauvin for the Murder of George Floyd is Moment of Accountability, Moment to Recommit Ourselves to Movement for Racial Justice
WASHINGTON, D.C. [4/21/21]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) released the following statement after the verdict was announced in the Derek Chauvin trial: “Convicting Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd is a moment of accountability, and also a moment to recommit ourselves to the movement for racial justice his tragic murder sparked. “Millions of people took to the streets because we couldn’t look away from the reality of George Floyd’s murder and we could see change had to come. I can’t stop thinking about all the Black and Brown people denied their civil rights and denied their lives, where
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