Latest Releases
Klobuchar, Smith, Budd Introduce Bipartisan Legislation to Support Volunteer Drivers
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Tina Smith (D-MN), and Tedd Budd (R-NC) introduced the bipartisan Volunteer Driver Tax Appreciation Act to support volunteer drivers. Each year, volunteer drivers provide millions of rides for seniors and other non-drivers through churches, community organizations, and nonprofits, giving them access to health care, meals, and other essential services. This legislation would lower the financial burden that those volunteer drivers face by increasing the charitable mileage tax deduction rate for drivers from $0.14 to $0.655 per mile. “Volunteer drivers are vital to rural communities across our state, helping seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and others access necessities like meals and health care,” said Klobuchar. “By increasing the charitable mileage tax deduction rate, this legislation will help reduce the financial burden on volunteer drivers and ensure they can continue to serve their communities.” “Minnesota’s volunteer drivers are critical to communities across our state, helping provide access to food, medication, and transport to seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities,” said Smith. “This legislation would increase the charitable mileage tax reimbursement rate and lower the financial burden for these volunteers. By more fairly compensating them for their services, we can ensure volunteers are able to continue helping the people who rely on them.” “Volunteer drivers provide critical services to predominantly rural areas of our country. Seniors, veterans, and disabled citizens are able to access food and healthcare through the charitable work of others. Increasing the charitable mileage reimbursement rate will make it easier for volunteer drivers
Senator Tina Smith Introduces Legislation to Ensure Accurate, Thorough Education About Native Peoples
WASHINGTON — Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) introduced significant legislation to improve public education and understanding about Native American peoples and their histories. Accurate, thorough education about Native peoples benefits all students, Native and non-Native alike. Unfortunately, the education most students receive regarding Native histories and cultures is woefully inadequate. For example, nearly half of Americans say that what they were taught in schools about Native Americans was inaccurate and in most K-12 classrooms, students are not taught about Native peoples at all post-1900. Furthermore, teachers rate “history of Native American peoples” and “pre-Columbian American history and culture” as two of the worst subjects in terms of coverage and accuracy. These glaring educational deficiencies allow negative stereotypes and misconceptions to take hold and persist. “It is unacceptable that so many Americans are under- and misinformed about Native peoples and their history,” said Senator Smith. “Teachers and Native groups around the country have been sounding the alarm and pushing for action on this issue for years, and it’s time we listened. This legislation would help develop accurate and thorough curriculum for our schools so that harmful misconceptions and stereotypes do not persist.” Deficiencies in our education system are a top driver of false narratives about Native peoples. Senator Smith’s legislation, the Native Histories and Cultures Education Act, would help states improve primary and secondary education about Native histories and cultures in North America by: This legislation is inspired by the Understand Native Minnesota initiative, led by the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux
U.S. Senators Klobuchar, Smith, Colleagues Press President Trump for Answers on Mismanagement of the Strategic National Stockpile
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/17/20]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) are calling on President Trump to provide answers on the Administration’s mismanagement of the Strategic National Stockpile, which has left states without promised federal assistance and supplies they need to combat coronavirus (COVID-19) and save lives. “The COVID-19 pandemic threatens the overall health and safety of families across the country, in every single state. Dozens of states have requested supplies from the stockpile to ensure that public health workers, emergency responders, and frontline health care workers have the personal protective equipment they need to prevent the spread of this virus
Klobuchar, Smith Announce over $4 Million for Affordable Housing in Minnesota
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced that the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded Minnesota $4,078,002 in grants to meet the housing needs of Minnesotans. These funds, made available through the Housing Trust Fund (HTF), will be used to increase and preserve the supply of affordable housing for low-income households, including homeless families. “As Minnesotans continue to deal with the health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, ensuring all residents have access to safe housing is vitally important,” Klobuchar said. “These grants will help meet the needs of the people of our state, including the homeless, who
U.S. Senator Tina Smith: $7.6 Billion in Forgivable Loans Approved for Nearly 34,000 Minnesota Small Businesses
Senator Smith, Who Helped Pass Paycheck Protection Program Into Law, Calls Loan Approvals Important Start; Continues Pressing for Additional Funds, Faster Delivery and Improvements to Help More Businesses Access Paycheck Protection Program WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/15/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—a member of the Senate Banking Committee—announced that, as of April 13, 33,819 Minnesota small businesses have been approved for forgivable loans through the Paycheck Protection Program, which she helped pass into law as part of the recently passed legislation to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Sen. Smith is also pressing for improvements to the program so that money will flow more quickly and to fix implementation errors. These loans total $7,633,395,870 to help the state’s businesses and make Minnesota the
Thanks to Provision Authored by U.S. Senator Tina Smith, A Second Key Coronavirus Test Will Also Be Free to All Americans
WASHINGTON, D.C. [04/15/20]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), who in March successfully included free coronavirus testing for all Americans in legislation responding to the pandemic, said that this week top federal health officials have clarified for her that a second important “antibody” test to help determine which Americans have been infected and recovered will also be free under her testing provision. Sen. Smith said health experts, including those at Mayo Clinic, have said such “serology” tests, also known as antibody tests, could help determine who may have developed immunity to COVID-19, and will greatly assist efforts to identify individuals in areas where potential immunity
English