Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Announces Senate Passage of Bipartisan Legislation to Improve Housing, Health Care and Self-Governance in Native Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. [7.20.23] – This week, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), announced three pieces of her bipartisan legislation aimed at addressing key issues in Native communities passed the Senate. The bills would improve health care for urban Indigenous communities, strengthen self-governance agreements, and help increase homeownership in Native communities. All three pieces of legislation will now move to the House of Representatives for a vote. “Whenever I meet with Native leaders, three of the top issues I hear about are inadequate housing and health care and the importance of self-governance,” said Smith. “I worked with my Republican colleagues to introduce these pieces of legislation to take on these challenges and address the needs of Tribes in Minnesota and around the country. These bills would create easier pathways for homeownership in Native communities, improve the Indian Health System, and bolster self-governance agreements. I’m thrilled to see them pass the Senate and get one step closer to becoming law.” Senator Smith’s bills include:
With Farm Bill on the Horizon, U.S. Senator Tina Smith Introduces Slate of Legislation to Help Farmers and Address Workforce Shortages
WASHINGTON, D.C. [7.20.23] – Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced legislation to help address workforce shortages in farming and boost economic growth and development in rural communities. The bills are set to be included as part of this year’s Farm Bill, a package of legislation passed every five years that is critically important for farmers, rural communities, and the environment. Specifically, Smith’s legislation will help increase access to capital for under-served farmers, boost training and economic opportunity for beginner farmers, and help make land more affordable for historically disadvantaged farmers. “The Farm Bill touches the lives of virtually every American and is vital to our state’s economy,” said Sen. Smith. “The bills that I am introducing today will help beginning farmers access land and develop markets for their products, two of the biggest issues I have heard during my Farm Bill listening sessions around the state. I will continue working to get them across the finish line and make this year’s Farm Bill as strong as possible.” Senator Smith’s bills include: “With millions of acres of agricultural land anticipated to change hands over the next decade, now is the moment for Congress to take action and ensure that the 2023 Farm Bill delivers material benefits for historically underserved farmers, ranchers, and forest owners striving to establish and grow their operations,” said Holly Rippon-Butler, Land Policy Director with the National Young Farmers Coalition. “Land access is the top challenge that young farmers across the country face. We are grateful for
Klobuchar, Smith Join Colleagues in Calling for Study of Dual Enrollment and Concurrent Enrollment Programs
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) joined Senators Mark Warner (D-VA) and Rob Portman (R-OH) and 15 Senate colleagues in encouraging the U.S. Department of Education to expand its planned study of federal K-12 education spending to include dual and concurrent enrollment programs and early college high schools. In their letter, the senators urged the Department to examine utilization, outcomes, and best practices of college in high school programs that receive funding through the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The most recent reauthorization of ESEA – the Every Student Succeeds Act – passed on a bipartisan basis in 2015.
U.S. Senators Klobuchar, Smith & Democratic Colleagues Call on Environmental Protection Agency to Protect Region Five Communities
WASHINGTON, D.C. [02/10/20]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—along with a number of their Democratic colleagues led by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)—urged new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 5 Administrator Kurt Thiede to keep the need to protect public health and safety, and to support the hard-working career professionals within Region 5, top of mind. The senators also raised concerns over the troubling pattern of decreases in staffing and enforcement meant to protect communities in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin. “We write to you to request that in your new role as Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Funding to Assist Monitor Water Quality Monitoring in Grand Portage
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced $40,000 in grant funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to monitor water quality in Grand Portage. The funds will be used to purchase a vehicle in order to better track human health and water quality on the reservation to ensure that Grand Portage’s officials will have consistent, up-to-date, local water quality data available. Reliably gathering and updating this information will help Grand Portage maintain, restore, and improve water quality within the reservation boundaries. “Investments in clean water serve as a down payment on the long-term well-being of tribal communities
Following Request for Funding, Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Agricultural Disaster Declaration for Seven Minnesota Counties
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted their request to provide federal assistance to Minnesota farmers overwhelmed by significant wet weather during last fall’s harvest. Beltrami, Clearwater, Kittson, Marshall, Nobles, Polk, and Yellow Medicine counties are all now eligible to apply for assistance from the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA), including FSA emergency loans. “Heavy rain and flooding made last fall a particularly challenging harvest for our state’s farmers and producers, killing crops and causing uncertainty for Minnesotan families,” Klobuchar said. “This disaster declaration will expedite much-needed assistance to struggling communities who
English