Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Celebrates Red Lake, Inc. Trade Mission to India
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), a member of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, celebrated that Red Lake Nation’s Red Lake, Inc. will be participating in a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) agribusiness trade mission to New Delhi, India at the end of the month. 47 diverse businesses and organizations will join Under Secretary Alexis M. Taylor on the mission, and Red Lake will be the only representative from a Native or Tribal community. “We need to support all farmers—and that includes making sure we’re advocating for Native farmers who may face unique and challenging barriers to successfully owning and operating farms,” said Sen. Smith. “This trade mission to India will be a great opportunity for Red Lake to cultivate new markets for their agriculture products.” While on the trade mission, participants will engage in targeted meetings and site visits to build new trade linkages, strengthen existing partnerships, observe U.S. products in the marketplace, and discover the latest Indian consumer food trends. Participants will also receive in-depth market briefings from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service and industry trade experts. Dating back to 2018, Senator Smith has pushed for Tribal inclusion on USDA trade missions. She joined colleagues from New Mexico, Montana, and North Dakota to send a letter to then Secretary Sonny Perdue to more fully incorporate tribes into these trade missions. ###
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Announces Clean Energy Projects for Minnesota Farms and Small Businesses
[MINNEAPOLIS, MN] – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced funding awards for 27 farms and small businesses across rural and Greater Minnesota to install clean energy technology on their farms. This round of funding for Minnesota totals nearly $2 million. This initiative is possible through the more than $144 million in grant funding for underutilized renewable technologies through the Renewable Energy for America (REAP) program, which Senator Smith championed and strengthened in the Inflation Reduction Act. “The clean energy transition is happening, the question is whether we lead or follow. I want us to lead,” said Senator Smith. “But as we make the switch to cleaner, cheaper energy, we need to make sure everyone benefits. That’s one reason programs like REAP, which helps rural communities install renewable energy systems, are so important. These investments will save farms and small businesses across Minnesota thousands of dollars a year in energy costs while helping reduce harmful emissions.” “I applied and received a grant for my new mixed flow grain dryer,” said John Kapphahn, a farmer from Elbow Lake. “We had an older continuous flow dryer that was about 20 years old that was destroyed by a tornado. The new dryer has cut our operating expense for drying corn by at least 50% with better quality grain.” “The REAP grant funding helped us to add a rooftop solar array to our dairy farm,” said Alan Abrahamson from Lindstrom. “As a small dairy farm anything we can do to reduce our
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Leads Senate Push to Improve Gaps in Telehealth Coverage for Mental and Physical Health
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/15/20]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) led her Senate colleagues in introducing the Health Care at Home Act, which would provide telehealth parity for mental and physical health services. She was joined in the effort by Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Mark Udall (D-N.M.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.). The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to a significant increase in telehealth services for both physical and behavioral health. In Minnesota, health systems have witnessed an over 1,000-fold increase in the use of telehealth. But gaps in access to telehealth remain. Sens.
U.S. Senators Smith and Warren, U.S. Representative Eshoo Spearhead Effort to Direct Nation’s Top Health Agencies to Publicly Share Information on Testing Supply Inventory
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/15/20]—This week U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) introduced their COVID-19 Testing Inventory Act, which directs Federal agencies to compile and publicly share real-time information about testing supply inventory and shortages. U.S. Representative Anna Eshoo (D-Calif. 18) introduced companion legislation in the House today. Since President Trump declared the COVID-19 outbreak a national emergency, state departments of health, Indian Tribes, hospitals, health care providers, and first responders have lacked tests and supplies—including personal protective equipment (PPE), testing swabs, and reagents—needed to conduct adequate public health surveillance to contain and stop the spread of COVID-19. The COVID-19 Testing Inventory
U.S. Senators Tina Smith & John Hoeven Secure Bipartisan Win: Rural Electric Cooperatives Now Eligible for Paycheck Protection Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/14/20]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and John Hoeven (R-N.D.) said that the U.S. Treasury Department and the Small Business Administration (SBA) have heeded their bipartisan call to make rural electric cooperatives with fewer than 500 employees eligible for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Last month, Sens. Smith and Hoeven led a bipartisan group of senators in urging the U.S. Department of the Treasury and SBA to support rural electric cooperatives and ensure their access to the PPP, which was created under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to support small businesses and help them maintain payroll and cover expenses during the pandemic. Click here to read the Senators’ letter. “I pushed the Treasury Department to make this important change
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
English