Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Presses Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation on Predatory Practices That Are Pricing Out Lake Elmo, Minnesota Residents
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Chair of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, sent a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELP), an Illinois-based corporation, expressing deep concern over the company’s mistreatment of residents in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Her letter comes following extensive reporting that residents of Cimarron Park, which is owned by ELP, are being priced out by egregious rent increases, dealing with hostile management and suffering under unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home more difficult. “This corporation’s well-documented practices of hiking rents and making it more difficult to find other housing options only serves to boost shareholder profits while hanging Minnesotans out to dry,” said Senator Smith. “Residents have been pleading for help for nearly four years, and Equity LifeStyle Properties has failed to show they are even listening to concerns. I want them to meaningfully engage with residents instead of putting their shareholders ahead of hardworking Minnesotans.” Cimarron Park is home to roughly 500 Minnesota families. Their conflict with ELP was first reported by WCCO News in December 2020, when residents decried a rent increase at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that initial report, residents said the situation had only worsened, with the Minnesota Star Tribune reporting declining services and poor management earlier this year. Most recently, residents reported unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home unnecessarily expensive, trapping households into a cycle of ever-increasing rent, now totaling a 30% increase over the last five years. Equity LifeStyle Properties owns roughly 72,0000 homes and operates
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Presses Multi-Billion Dollar Corporation on Predatory Practices That Are Pricing Out Lake Elmo, Minnesota Residents
MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), Chair of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, sent a letter to the Chief Executive Officer of Equity LifeStyle Properties (ELP), an Illinois-based corporation, expressing deep concern over the company’s mistreatment of residents in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. Her letter comes following extensive reporting that residents of Cimarron Park, which is owned by ELP, are being priced out by egregious rent increases, dealing with hostile management and suffering under unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home more difficult. “This corporation’s well-documented practices of hiking rents and making it more difficult to find other housing options only serves to boost shareholder profits while hanging Minnesotans out to dry,” said Senator Smith. “Residents have been pleading for help for nearly four years, and Equity LifeStyle Properties has failed to show they are even listening to concerns. I want them to meaningfully engage with residents instead of putting their shareholders ahead of hardworking Minnesotans.” Cimarron Park is home to roughly 500 Minnesota families. Their conflict with ELP was first reported by WCCO News in December 2020, when residents decried a rent increase at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since that initial report, residents said the situation had only worsened, with the Minnesota Star Tribune reporting declining services and poor management earlier this year. Most recently, residents reported unfair rules that make selling or moving into a new home unnecessarily expensive, trapping households into a cycle of ever-increasing rent, now totaling a 30% increase over the last five years. Equity LifeStyle Properties owns roughly 72,0000 homes and operates
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith Announce Major Federal Funding For AmeriCorps Seniors in Minnesota
WASHINGTON, D.C. [02/08/22]—Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (Both D-Minn.) announced new federal funding for AmeriCorps Seniors in Minnesota. The program will receive over $600,000 in American Rescue Plan funding. The award significantly expands AmeriCorps’ ability to bolster local communities’ COVID-19 response and support critical public health needs as the country works to recover from the pandemic. “National service programs represent the best of our country, with Senior Corps members playing an important role as volunteers and community leaders,” said Klobuchar. “This funding will increase opportunities for seniors to remain engaged and connected to their communities through volunteering.
Senators Smith, Thune, Wicker, Casey Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Increase Access to Rural Broadband
WASHINGTON, D.C. [2/7/22]— Today, U.S. Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), John Thune (R-S.D.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) introduced the Connect Unserved Americans Act. This bipartisan legislation would ensure that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) targets funding through the ReConnect Program to areas most in need of reliable broadband services. Additionally, it would enhance the coordination between federal agencies that are disbursing broadband funding to prevent the overbuilding of existing broadband networks at the taxpayers’ expense. “Broadband is the infrastructure of the 21st Century – it isn’t just nice, it’s necessary if we’re going to build an economy that
Klobuchar, Smith, Bipartisan Group of Colleagues Urge Extension of Pandemic Telehealth Services
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined 45 of their colleagues in a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging congressional leaders to include an extension for expanded telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries. This telehealth service expansion began during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing patients nationwide to access telehealth services from a wider range of eligible health care providers. “We strongly support permanently expanding Medicare coverage of telehealth and removing other barriers to the use of telehealth because of its ability to expand access to care, reduce costs, and improve health outcomes. While Congress prepares to enact permanent telehealth
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Statement on the Fatal Shooting of Amir Locke
WASHINGTON, D.C. [02/04/22]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith released the following statement on the fatal shooting of Amir Locke: “Another family is mourning the sudden and tragic loss of their son, Amir Locke, who had his whole life ahead of him. He was only 22.” “The body cam video from the shooting is deeply disturbing. Minneapolis police storm an apartment on a no-knock warrant and within seconds have shot and killed Amir Locke, who moments before appeared to be wrapped in a blanket sleeping on a couch.” “The Minneapolis Police Department must immediately explain how it could have released an early
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