Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Legislation to Tackle Drug Shortages, Improve Public Health Preparedness Advances Through Key Committee
WASHINGTON, D.C. [8.4.23] –U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that two of her legislative priorities, aimed at addressing drug shortages and improving public health preparedness, took a major step forward. “Drug shortages are hurting patients, pharmacists, and physicians across the country,” said Senator Smith. “I have heard directly from Minnesotans who are facing shortages of ADHD medications like Adderall, cancer-fighting drugs for chemotherapy, among other things. These drug shortages can be life-threatening, and I’ve made it a priority to tackle this problem. In addition, I’m focused on ensuring we are prepared for future public health threats. My bipartisan legislation will improve the FDA’s responsiveness when medication demand outpaces the supply, and help improve our ability to rapidly develop and distribute diagnostic tests in the event of a disease outbreak. I’m glad to see these priorities included in this important legislation.” The Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Response Act is essential legislation that reauthorizes key public health and emergency preparedness programs. Current funding expires on September 30th. Millions of Americans have been affected by shortages of chemotherapy drugs, commonly-used antibiotics, pediatric formulations of medications like ibuprofen, and other essential drugs. Pieces of Senator Smith’s legislation, which have been included in the reauthorization, will help address these shortages and bolster public health preparedness. Senator Smith’s provisions include:
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Reintroduce Legislation to Improve Fire Safety in Public Housing
WASHINGTON, D.C. [8.3.23] – U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (both D-MN) reintroduced legislation to help install sprinkler systems in older public housing buildings. Companion legislation was also introduced in the House by U.S. Representatives Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ 15) and John Rutherford (R-FL 05) with support from Representative Ilhan Omar (D-MN 5). Smith originally introduced the Public Housing Fire Safety Act following the tragic Cedar High Apartments fire, which took place in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 2019. The upper floors of the building, where the fire erupted, did not have sprinkler systems installed. “In the wake of the tragic 2019 Cedar High Apartments Fire, I joined Senator Smith in introducing legislation to ensure that buildings have properly installed fire and sprinkler systems. Every second counts during a house fire, and with up-to-date systems, more lives can be saved,” said Klobuchar. “We need to continue these efforts by passing the Public Housing Fire Safety Act to bring us one step closer towards ensuring that buildings are safe for all residents.” “The fire at Cedar High Apartments was a tragic loss for the Cedar-Riverside community,” said Smith. “In the aftermath of the tragedy, I began connecting with people closely affected the fire and looking into ways to prevent it from happening again. This bill gets to the root of what we need to do: incentivize public housing authorities to install sprinkler systems and give them the support they need to do it.” “One of the most important investments our federal government
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Introduces Bipartisan Bills to Invest in Rural Communities
WASHINGTON D.C. [04/04/2019]— This week, U.S. Senator Tina Smith helped introduce a pair of bipartisan bills to expand investments in rural communities: one designed to help improve rural broadband, and one to improve rural health care. Sen. Smith has been contacted by several Minnesota cooperatives—which are a vital part of the effort to build out rural broadband in the state—that are at risk of losing their tax-exempt status due to a mistake in the 2017 tax law. The mistake in the 2017 law put the tax-exempt status of co-ops at risk if they receive government grants to expand broadband or
U.S. Sens. Smith, Durbin, King, Sinema Introduce Bill to Help Make College Textbooks More Affordable
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/04/2019]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Angus King (I-Maine), and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), introduced legislation that aims to make high-quality textbooks easily accessible and free of charge to students, professors, researchers, and the public. The bill, known as the Affordable College Textbook Act, would make it possible for colleges to create and expand the use of open college textbooks—textbooks that are free and available online. Representative Joe Neguse (D-CO 2) introduced a companion bill in the House. According to The College Board, the average student budget for college books and supplies during the 2017 2018
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Leads Senate Colleagues in Calling on Secretary DeVos to Further Improve Program that Unfairly Forced Teachers to Pay Thousands of Dollars in Promised Aid
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/02/19]—This week, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and her Senate colleagues—including fellow Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.)—called on Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to take additional action for teachers who erroneously or unfairly had Teacher Education Assistance for College Higher Education (TEACH) grants converted to loans. In December of last year, the Education Department announced it would be instituting a process to help teachers who have been unfairly forced to repay thousands of dollars in aid. Sen. Smith said this was a good first step, but that more action is needed to improve the program. This week, as the
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, in Bipartisan Effort, Urges Trump Administration to Keep SNAP Benefits for Families
WASHINGTON D.C. [03/29/19] – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) raised concerns about a proposed rule to make harmful changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)—which would affect some 1.1 million people across the country—and urged the Trump Administration to withdraw the proposal. In a bipartisan letter to Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, Sen. Smith emphasized the administration’s proposal is in direct contradiction to Congressional intent and would hurt many families struggling to find stable employment. The letter was led by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). “Congress recognizes that one-size-fits-all rules for SNAP and employment practices actually end up fitting
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