Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce USDA Partnership to Expand, Bolster Minnesota’s Food Supply Chain
WASHINGTON [2/7/2024] – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced federal funding to strengthen the middle portions of Minnesota’s food supply chain. These funds will help small farms and small food businesses access more customers and help consumers find more locally-grown goods – oftentimes at lower cost. The funding is made possible through the American Rescue Plan, legislation both Klobuchar and Smith supported. “To keep prices low at the grocery store, we need to invest in our food supply chain to make it resilient from disruptions and bottlenecks,” said Klobuchar. “These grants will strengthen the infrastructure needed to bring food from farm to table, support farmers as they expand into new markets, and deliver technical skills training for local food businesses.” “Farmers in Minnesota know firsthand the vulnerabilities of our food supply chain and the importance of making it more resilient in the long term,” said Smith. “This funding will help strengthen our food supply system and also expand opportunity for farmers in Minnesota and around the country by creating new and better markets for their products.” This funding is one of many actions taken under the Biden Administration to expand processing capacity and increase competition in agriculture, making markets more accessible, fair, competitive and resilient for producers. The four-year partnership between the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Agriculture will bolster the middle of Minnesota’s food supply chain, meaning more opportunities for producers to sell their goods, better infrastructure for food businesses to operate with, and
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Increase Oversight of the For-Profit College Industry
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined her colleagues Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to reintroduce legislation to establish an interagency committee tasked with improving coordination of federal oversight of for-profit colleges, so that students are not scammed out of an education and into a mountain of debt. The bill, called the Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act, would improve enforcement of existing laws and make it easier for students to voice concerns about their experiences with for-profit colleges. “Students should be protected from predatory institutions that will leave them with thousands of dollars of debt and limited job prospects,” said Smith, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “This bill will protect students and taxpayers alike by improving the oversight of for-profit colleges.” “Predatory for-profit colleges rake in billions in federal student aid rather than to provide a quality education to students, who are often drowning in debt with a near-meaningless degree. We must step in to provide the proper federal oversight to stop this industry from continuing to take advantage of students,” said Durbin. “The Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act will give the power back to students. With readily available information about which colleges are known to take financial advantage of students, students will have the tools to make the best decision for the future of their education.” “For-profit colleges all too often put profit and enrollment over education by luring students into insufficient academic opportunities and leaving them with insurmountable debt,” said Blumenthal. “With the Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act, we
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Secures Bipartisan Support for Her Legislation to Ensure Millions of Americans with Diabetes Aren’t Forced Into Dangerous Practice of Rationing Insulin
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/25/19]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s (D-Minn.) legislation to hold insulin manufacturers accountable for excessive increases in the price of life-sustaining insulin—announced last week in Minneapolis and set to be introduced later this week in remembrance of Minnesotan Alec Smith—secured bipartisan support thanks to Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) cosponsoring the Emergency Access to Insulin Act. “Thank you to my colleague and neighbor Senator Cramer for supporting my legislation to provide Minnesotans and Americans with the insulin they need to survive, and to put us on a path to bring down the cost of insulin,” said Sen. Smith, a member
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Pushes Education Secretary DeVos to End Delays in Loan Forgiveness for Students who Attended Now-Defunct For-Profit Colleges
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/19/19]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is calling on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to quickly process the claims of thousands of defrauded students in Minnesota and across the country seeking to get their federal student loans discharged. Thousands of pending discharge applications from students who attended now-defunct colleges – including more than 2,700 from Minnesota – have languished at the U.S. Department of Education for an average of 882 days. Sen. Smith — along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and 19 of their Democratic colleagues — wrote Wednesday to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Continues Fight to Secure Health Committee Hearing on Negative Consequences of Family Separation on Children
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/24/2019]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is again calling on leaders of the Senate Health Committee—on which she serves—to hold a hearing in order to better understand the negative health effects of the Trump Administration’s disastrous family separation policy and the health and safety conditions for children. Last year, Sen. Smith first pressed for a similar hearing shortly after allegations that at least one facility where children were being housed had forcibly injected already-traumatized children with powerful sedatives. Sen. Smith visited family detention centers herself and renewed her call this spring after reports found that thousands more children had
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Announces Bold Legislation to Bring Down Price of Insulin, Hold Manufacturers Accountable
MINNEAPOLIS, M.N. [06/21/19]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—joined by Minnesotan Nicole Smith-Holt who tragically lost her son, Alec, when the high price of insulin forced him to ration his supply—announced plans to introduce legislation to hold insulin manufacturers accountable for excessive increases in the price of life-sustaining insulin. Sen. Smith, a member of the Senate Health Committee, made her announcement at a Minneapolis community health center, where she met with Minnesotans struggling to afford skyrocketing insulin prices, including advocates Lija Greenseid and Quinn Nystrom. Sen. Smith said her new bill will be introduced next week in remembrance of the anniversary
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