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Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding to Improve Osakis’s Water Treatment Plant and Water Tower
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $497,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant and a $651,000 loan to make improvements to the water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis. Specifically, the funding supports a project that will convert the iron filter to a biological ammonia-removal filter to allow chlorine to better clean the lines during water treatment which will help protect the distribution system. The project will also renovate Osakis’s water tower, which hasn’t been repaired since its construction in 1997. “The water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis require major repairs to ensure residents have access to quality water,” said Klobuchar. “This federal funding will advance the Osakis treatment plant and water tower modernization project and strengthen the city’s water infrastructure.” “Keeping our water clean and safe is important for safeguarding public health,” said Smith. “Securing this loan will benefit the residents of Osakis by better filtering their water of contaminants and updating their 15-year-old water tower.” Senators Klobuchar and Smith are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which oversees theUSDA. This federal funding was secured through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Program grants can be used by communities across the country to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community in a primarily rural area, such as health care facilities, public safety services, educational services,
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding to Improve Red Lake Falls’s Water and Waste Disposal Infrastructure
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $906,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant and an $8,310,000 loan to make improvements to the Red Lake Falls’s water, wastewater, and sewer infrastructure. Specifically, this project will construct a new water tower and pump station and install new water meters. “Red Lake Falls’s current water, wastewater, and sewer infrastructure no longer meets the needs of the city,” said Klobuchar. “Using this federal funding, Red Lake Falls can make the necessary improvements to enhance these critical public services.” “Minnesotans deserve to have safe, clean water,” said Smith. “The city of Red Lake Falls is no exception, and this investment from the USDA will update the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure system, directly impacting all of its residents.” Senators Klobuchar and Smith are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which oversees the USDA. This federal funding was secured through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Program grants can be used by communities across the country to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community in a primarily rural area, such as health care facilities, public safety services, educational services, and more. ###
Klobuchar, Smith Call For Permanent Expansion of Telehealth Provisions
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined U.S. Senators Brian Schatz (D-HI) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) in a bipartisan group of 30 colleagues calling for the expansion of access to telehealth services for Medicare beneficiaries made during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic to be permanent. New data shows that the number of Medicare beneficiaries using telehealth services increased by 11,718 percent in just a month and a half during the pandemic. “Americans have benefited significantly from this expansion of telehealth and have come to rely on its availability,” the senators wrote. “Congress should expand access to telehealth services on a
In Senate Banking Committee Hearing, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell Agrees with U.S. Senator Tina Smith that Racial Inequities May Worsen If Congress Doesn’t Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/16/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) pressed Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on the long-lasting inequities that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has highlighted and exacerbated. She also emphasized the importance of long-term rental assistance as a way to prevent a full-blown housing and eviction crisis in Minnesota and across the country. Sen. Smith—who has held affordable housing listening sessions across Minnesota—told Powell that COVID-19 is not the great equalizer. She said that this crisis has hit working families the hardest, most of whom were already struggling to pay rent and maintain stable housing before the pandemic. Sen. Smith especially highlighted the disparate impact of COVID-19 on
Klobuchar, Smith Announce $15 Million for Housing in Minnesota in Response to Coronavirus
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded Minnesota $15,253,281 in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) to meet the housing needs of Minnesotans impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. These funds, which Congress made available through the CARES Act, will help low-income families and Minnesota’s most vulnerable citizens, including those experiencing homelessness. The relief funds can be used to operate emergency shelters, provide hotel and motel vouchers and make more emergency shelters available, provide essential services including childcare, education services, employment assistance, outpatient health services, legal services,
U.S. Senator Tina Smith in Senate Floor Speech: “Find Purpose in Making Sure This Moment Leads to Real Progress Towards Justice an
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/11/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) delivered a speech from the Senate floor to honor George Floyd, and to stand up for Minnesotans and the millions of Americans calling for transformative changes to policing and systems that perpetuate injustice. You can access video of Sen. Smith’s remarks—the first in a series of speeches she will give in the coming weeks—here. “We need a new and sustained push for racial justice, not just in law enforcement but in health care, in education, in housing, and in our environmental policy. The people I spoke to when I was home last
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