Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Kevin Cramer, John Fetterman and Katie Britt Introduce Legislation to Strengthen Domestic Bus Manufacturing Market
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) led her colleagues Senators Kevin Cramer (R-ND), John Fetterman (D-PA) and Katie Britt (R-AL) in introducing bipartisan legislation to cut red tape and reform the domestic bus manufacturing industry by providing more flexibility for local transit systems when purchasing buses. Current U.S. standards impose outdated, 40-year-old payment practices on our bus manufacturers and purchasers, which result in unnecessarily high costs. Many domestic bus manufacturers have gone bankrupt or left the market, despite high demand for new vehicles. The Bus Rolling Stock Modernization Act would help fix this problem.The legislation allows bus manufacturers to apply for advanced payments up to 20%, enabling them to invest in the labor and machinery needed to meet demand of transit agencies and keep production costs down. “Each day, transit systems connect Minnesotans to their jobs, schools, grocery stores and countless other opportunities – all while reducing traffic congestion and pollution,” said Senator Smith. “This bill makes a straightforward and commonsense update to the current FTA regulations that would cut unnecessary red tape and strengthen the domestic bus manufacturing market. This small change will also support U.S. bus manufacturing jobs, get more buses into service, and help Americans get to their work, school, and health care appointments more easily.” “This legislation represents a bipartisan effort to revitalize the bus manufacturing industry across America. This simple change will have the dual benefit of much-needed flexibility for local transit agencies and contracting stability for manufacturers like Motor Coach Industries in Pembina North Dakota. This helps pave the way for further investment and job
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,
Amid Economic Fallout from Pandemic, U.S. Senator Tina Smith Backs $75 Billion Housing Assistance Fund
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/09/20]—In an effort to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from sparking a full-blown housing, eviction, and foreclosure crisis, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—a member of the Senate Housing and Banking Committee—is backing legislation led by U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) that would provide a new $75 billion Housing Assistance Fund to help households struggling to make ends meet. “Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I traveled across our big, diverse state, and saw that virtually every community in Minnesota is experiencing a serious housing shortage. In some communities, it was already a crisis,” said Sen. Smith. “And now, given the
Klobuchar, Smith Announce over $47.5 Million for Housing in Minnesota in Response to Coronavirus
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded Minnesota $47,520,331 in grants 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 the homeless. These relief funds will be awarded by using existing grant formulas so grantees can quickly help their communities. “As Minnesotans continue to deal with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, it is more important than ever to ensure that all residents
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Bipartisan Bill to Prevent Drug Shortages Becomes Law Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/08/20]— U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—a member of the Senate Health Committee—says that measures from her bipartisan bill to prevent drug shortages were enacted into law as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The measures from Sen. Smith’s Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, which she introduced with Republican U.S. Senator Susan Collins of Maine, will improve reporting requirements of potential drug shortages and help increase the supplies of vital drugs needed to treat or prevent a wide variety of diseases, illnesses, and conditions. “As we find ourselves amid the coronavirus pandemic, it’s critical that health care workers
Klobuchar, Smith, Schneider, Colleagues Urge Administration to Increase Number of Doctors in Rural and Other Medically Underserved Areas
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Representative Brad Schneider (D-IL-10) along with colleagues in both the House and the Senate, wrote to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) urging the Administration to resume premium processing for physicians seeking employment-based visas. Doctors on these visas increase access to health care, especially rural areas, through the Conrad 30 program, which allows foreign medical school graduates who have been trained in the United States to stay in the country as long as they serve underserved areas. On March 20, USCIS announced its suspension of premium processing due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)
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