Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce USDA Partnership to Expand, Bolster Minnesota’s Food Supply Chain
WASHINGTON [2/7/2024] – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN), members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, announced federal funding to strengthen the middle portions of Minnesota’s food supply chain. These funds will help small farms and small food businesses access more customers and help consumers find more locally-grown goods – oftentimes at lower cost. The funding is made possible through the American Rescue Plan, legislation both Klobuchar and Smith supported. “To keep prices low at the grocery store, we need to invest in our food supply chain to make it resilient from disruptions and bottlenecks,” said Klobuchar. “These grants will strengthen the infrastructure needed to bring food from farm to table, support farmers as they expand into new markets, and deliver technical skills training for local food businesses.” “Farmers in Minnesota know firsthand the vulnerabilities of our food supply chain and the importance of making it more resilient in the long term,” said Smith. “This funding will help strengthen our food supply system and also expand opportunity for farmers in Minnesota and around the country by creating new and better markets for their products.” This funding is one of many actions taken under the Biden Administration to expand processing capacity and increase competition in agriculture, making markets more accessible, fair, competitive and resilient for producers. The four-year partnership between the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Agriculture will bolster the middle of Minnesota’s food supply chain, meaning more opportunities for producers to sell their goods, better infrastructure for food businesses to operate with, and
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Durbin, Colleagues Introduce Bill to Increase Oversight of the For-Profit College Industry
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined her colleagues Dick Durbin (D-IL), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) to reintroduce legislation to establish an interagency committee tasked with improving coordination of federal oversight of for-profit colleges, so that students are not scammed out of an education and into a mountain of debt. The bill, called the Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act, would improve enforcement of existing laws and make it easier for students to voice concerns about their experiences with for-profit colleges. “Students should be protected from predatory institutions that will leave them with thousands of dollars of debt and limited job prospects,” said Smith, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “This bill will protect students and taxpayers alike by improving the oversight of for-profit colleges.” “Predatory for-profit colleges rake in billions in federal student aid rather than to provide a quality education to students, who are often drowning in debt with a near-meaningless degree. We must step in to provide the proper federal oversight to stop this industry from continuing to take advantage of students,” said Durbin. “The Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act will give the power back to students. With readily available information about which colleges are known to take financial advantage of students, students will have the tools to make the best decision for the future of their education.” “For-profit colleges all too often put profit and enrollment over education by luring students into insufficient academic opportunities and leaving them with insurmountable debt,” said Blumenthal. “With the Proprietary Education Oversight Task Force Act, we
Klobuchar, Smith, Stauber Announce $500K USDA Grant to Expand Education Opportunities in Northeastern Minnesota
WASHINGTON, D.C. [11/21/19]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.), and Representative Pete Stauber (R-MN-08) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded Education Innovation Partners Cooperative Center a $500,000 grant to connect students living in rural settings with telecommunication and internet capabilities that could help them learn. Long distance learning services help students overcome challenges they might face due to their remote location and low population density. This project will provide services to 28 sites across six counties. It’s estimated to benefit 21,000 students and 1,500 teachers per year. “Investments in education and health care are
U.S. Senators Smith & Barrasso Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Recruit and Retain Rural Health Care Providers
WASHINGTON D.C. [11/21/2019]—Today, on National Rural Health Day, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and John Barrasso (R-Wyo.)—both co-chairs of the Senate Rural Health Caucus—announced their bipartisan bill to address the disparity in access to health care in rural America by supporting key rural health workforce programs. Right now, rural America is struggling to recruit and retain the health care providers they need to support their communities. Geographic isolation and scarce housing options create challenges for rural health care providers to attract primary and specialty care physicians, nurses, technicians, ambulance drivers, and case managers. Even when providers move to rural communities,
Klobuchar, Smith, Emmer Announce $200K USDA Grant To Improve Rural Health Care in Central Minnesota
WASHINGTON, D.C. [11/21/19]—U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn) and Representative Tom Emmer (R-MN-06), announced that the USDA has awarded CentraCare Health System a $234,648 grant to expand telehealth services across central Minnesota. This project will help improve access to critical medical services by placing video equipment at ten clinics across nine counties. It is estimated to help an additional 2,000 patients over a two-year project period. “Investments in education and health care are essential to improving communities across our state,” said Sen. Klobuchar. “This funding will help CentraCare address physician shortages in rural areas by establishing greater access to care through telemedicine
U.S. Senator Tina Smith & Senate Indian Affairs Committee Advance Bills to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis
U.S. Senator Tina Smith & Senate Indian Affairs Committee Advance Bills to Address Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act to Address the Crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Headed to Senate Floor After Committee Vote WASHINGTON, D.C. [11/21/2019]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said today that a key Senate panel has approved two measures this week that will improve the federal government’s response to the missing and murdered Indigenous women (MMIW) crisis. She said the two bills passed by the Indian Affairs Committee—Savanna’s Act and the Not Invisible Act—would increase coordination with law enforcement,
English