Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Announces Significant Federal Funding for Tribal Nations and the Native Community in the Twin Cities
WASHINGTON D.C. [1/13/23] –– U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced that she helped secure over $8.6 million for Minnesota Tribal Nations and communities in the Twin Cities metro area. These funds will support the Lower Sioux Indian Community, the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe, the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, the Prairie Island Indian Community, the Indian Health Board of Minneapolis, and the Native American Community Clinic. Senator Klobuchar also worked to secure this funding. “For too long, Native communities have experienced negative impacts of federal underinvestment and underfunding of critical services. I’m proud to have worked with Tribal leaders to help secure funding for projects that will address some of these disparities,” said Senator Smith. “These are significant investments that will increase access to Indigenous health services, expand Tribal housing opportunities, and invest in clean energy, carbon reduction, and protecting waters. I look forward to seeing all the good these projects will do for Minnesota’s Tribal and Native communities.” This federal funding will help further the following priorities: Expanding health care access and upgrading health care facilities: $2.25 million for the Indian Health Board in Minneapolis to support the Menaandawiwe Wellness Campus vision to provide traditional healing methods and establish a connection to nature for Native people living in the Twin Cities metro area. $1 million to expand the Native American Community Clinic’s capacity by adding ten additional medical rooms, five dental exam rooms, expanded laboratory and diagnostic services, and establish a better clinic flow to improve efficiency. $850,000 for the Leech Lake
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s Bills to Reduce the Cost of Prescription Drugs and Expand Access to Health Care Signed Into Law
WASHINGTON, D.C. [1/13/23] — More than half a dozen health care bills by U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) were signed into law by President Biden two weeks ago. The measures will take important steps to lower the cost of prescription drugs, address public health workforce shortages, and shore up supply chains while creating good-paying American jobs. Most of the provisions were bipartisan. “Since my first day in office, I’ve promised Minnesotans that I would work to reduce the cost of prescription drugs and expand access to health care,” said Sen. Smith. “These measures provide the tools to make significant progress on lowering health care costs, boosting our public health workforce, and more.” These new laws will: Require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to establish a program to improve health outcomes and reduce health inequities. Help speed up the development of and improve access to lower-cost generic drugs by requiring the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to make timely therapeutic equivalence evaluations for drugs approved through the complex generic pathway. This provision is based on Smith’s Modernizing Therapeutic Equivalence Rating Determination Act. Clarify the FDA’s ability to regulate combination products—products that meet both the definition of drugs and devices—as drugs rather than as devices. The provision is based on Smith’s Consistent Legal Evaluation and Regulation of Medical Products (CLEAR) Act and will eliminate unnecessary confusion and turmoil in the industry. This clarification will allow the FDA to spend more time and resources on bringing low-cost products to market to
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Representative Ayanna Pressley Highlight Step Forward for Federal Contractor Employees Affected by Shutdown with Back Pay Included in Spending Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/11/2019]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley (MA-07) lauded the House Appropriations Committee government spending package for including money for federal contract workers who were not paid during the 35-day partial government shutdown. Sen. Smith and Rep. Pressley introduced companion legislation in January to provide back pay to as many as an estimated 580,000 workers who went without pay during the shutdown. Their bill would require any federal contractor that placed service workers on unpaid leave during the shutdown to provide retroactive compensation to cover wages lost through no fault of their own. Since then,
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Senate Colleagues Call on Department of Agriculture to Speed up Development of Crop Guidelines Established in Farm Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. [05/07/19]—This week, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and a bipartisan group of her Senate colleagues—led by Sens. John Thune (R-S.D.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.)—urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to expedite the development of the cover crop guidelines that were established in the strong, bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill. Sen. Smith and her colleagues also requested that haying and grazing of cover crops on prevent plant acres be allowed prior to the current USDA-mandated November 1 harvest date. “According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture published last month, between 2012 and 2017, cover crops on
U.S. Senator Tina Smith: Affordable Housing, Rural and Native Areas Must Remain a Focus in Housing Finance Reform Discussions
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/06/19]—Today, as Congress considers reforms to the nation’s housing finance system, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) outlined her top priorities. In a letter to the nation’s top housing finance agency and leaders of the Senate Banking Committee—on which she serves—Sen. Smith pressed the officials to make sure any changes to the housing finance system support the affordable housing market and housing availability in rural areas, including on tribal lands. Following the Senate Banking Committee’s hearings on the housing finance system earlier this year and ongoing discussions about housing finance reform, Sen. Smith is fighting to preserve meaningful gains
U.S. Sens. Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith, Reps. Pete Stauber, Jim Hagedorn, Collin Peterson, Laud Federal Investment in State’s Electric Infrastructure
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/05/19]— U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Representatives Pete Stauber (R-Minn. 8), Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn. 1), and Collin Peterson (D-Minn. 7) lauded the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) $133 million investment in Minnesota electric infrastructure that will improve services for more than 100,000 electric customers across the state. The loans provided to Minnesota included $52 million for Lake Country Power, which covers an eight county area in Rep. Stauber’s district, $36 million for People’s Energy Cooperative, which covers a six county area in Rep. Hagedorn’s district, and over $40 million for Stearns Cooperative Electric
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