Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar Announce Clean Energy Support for Three Minnesota Tribes
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Tina Smith, a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, and Amy Klobuchar (both D-Minn.) announced federal funding to connect Tribal homes to clean electricity, including homes previously not connected to electricity at all. Minnesota Tribes selected for funding include Prairie Island Indian Community, Red Lake Nation and Bois Forte Band of Chippewa. The grants are made possible by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which Senators Smith and Klobuchar both supported. “For generations, Native communities have been hurt by underinvestment and underfunding of basic infrastructure. Our transition to a clean energy economy can’t leave Indian Country behind,” said Senator Smith. “This funding gets us closer to ensuring every household in Minnesota, including on Tribal lands, have access to clean electricity.” “This federal grant will deliver critical clean energy infrastructure improvements,” said Senator Klobuchar.“Investments into clean electricity are vital for securing the power grid in Tribal communities and bolstering the transition to renewable energy.” “This investment in Indian Country and, specifically, the Prairie Island Indian Community, will literally help create a brighter future for our people,” said Prairie Island Tribal Council President Grant Johnson. “Achieving energy sovereignty while eliminating or offsetting all greenhouse gas emissions on Prairie Island is the goal of our net zero program. This grant will allow us to make electrification improvements to our members’ home and involve them more directly in our efforts to change our energy narrative and achieve our net zero goal.” “We are excited and honored to have received the funding from the Biden-Harris Administration America Agenda to Electrify Homes Across Indian Country with Clean Energy. This funding will assist us in the implementation capacity
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
U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Cory Booker Announce Plan to Build Stronger Public Health Workforce to Keep Fighting Pandemic
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/14/20]—Today, in an effort to solve America’s impending public health workforce shortage and strengthen its response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) introduced legislation to build a stronger public health infrastructure. Right now, America is facing an alarming public health workforce shortage. Local and state health departments have lost nearly a quarter (23 percent) of their workforce since 2008. Public health departments are also facing a looming retirement crisis, with almost a quarter of health department staff currently eligible for retirement and 55 percent of local public health professionals already over age 45. Experts also estimate that nearly half of the public health workforce is considering leaving their
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, U.S. Representative David Trone Press To Address Social Isolation Among Seniors in Next Coronavirus Package
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/12/20]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and U.S. Representative David Trone (D-Md. 6)—backed by several House and Senate colleagues—are leading a push to ensure the next coronavirus relief package contains provisions to help older adults stay connected and healthy at a time when they are in danger of becoming socially isolated. In a letter sent Tuesday, Sen. Smith, Rep. Trone and 11 Congressional colleagues told House and Senate Leaders that the COVID-19 pandemic is taking a particularly drastic, even fatal toll on older adults. They said that as seniors continue to follow life-saving physical distancing recommendations, they will need resources to allow them to remain safe, socially connected and healthy. “During this pandemic, so
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Presses Dr. Anthony Fauci at Health Committee Hearing For Needed Guidance on Keeping Americans Safe as States Begin to Reopen Economy
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/12/20]—Today, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, told U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) that the country has a moral responsibility to protect essential workers and must have tools in place like testing, contact tracing and the ability to quickly respond when coronavirus (COVID-19) infections break out in order for the country to effectively open up its economy. Sen. Smith, a member of the Senate Health Committee, pressed Fauci for his best guidance on safely reopening the economy in Minnesota and across the country at a hearing Tuesday that she and most Committee members attended remotely. Sen. Smith asked
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Leads Bipartisan Senate Push to Support Minnesota Pork Producers Hit Hard By Meat Processing Plant, Restaurant Closures
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/11/20]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is leading a bipartisan Senate push to help pork producers in Minnesota and across the country after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shut down meat processing plants and restaurants and dried up billions of dollars in demand for their products. In a letter Monday to House and Senate leaders led by Sen. Smith and Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), the 14 Senators said the pandemic has idled 40% of meat processing capacity and thrown producers into a crisis requiring them to quickly euthanize hundreds of thousands of animals. “The crisis is immediate. Pork producers send to market over two million pigs each week. If twenty percent of
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