Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce New Childcare Facility in Luverne
WASHINGTON, DC – Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), a member of the Senate Education Committee, announced federal funding they secured last year to renovate a vacant facility in Luverne, Minnesota into a childcare center has been disbursed. The project will help the city purchase and renovate a facility into a new center that will accommodate 186 infants, toddlers, preschool, and school-age children. The renovated space will also accommodate staff and administrative spaces, a gymnasium, and food preparation kitchen. “Too often I have heard that parents around the state, including in Rock County, have difficulty finding safe, reliable, and affordable child care in their communities,” said Senator Klobuchar. “We worked to secure a federal grant for Luverne to open a new child care center to serve hundreds of kids and expand options for parents.” “With few options for childcare in this area, working families are put in a serious bind. How can parents work without a safe, affordable place for their kids to go while they are at work?” said Senator Smith. “Luverne is leading the way in creating a community young families will want to live in, and this new facility is a testament to their hard work.” Rock County has over 350 kids below the age of five who need childcare, but capacity for just 240 of them, according to First Children’s Finance. Over the last ten years, almost half of the nearly 60 home child care providers in Rock County have left the field or retired. For some families, it makes more financial sense stay home rather
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Colleagues, Demand VA Improves Care for Victims of Sexual Assault
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN), led by Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-MT), joined her colleagues to send a letter to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) urging the Department to take immediate steps to improve the readiness of VA facilities and staff to address the needs of veterans after experiencing a sexual assault. The letter comes as a result of a concerning VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) report finding significant shortfalls in care provided by VA to veterans who seek care after sexual assault. The letter was also signed by Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Patty Murray (D-WA), John Fetterman (D-PA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) Angus King (I-ME), Richard Durbin (D-IL), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ). “We urge the Department to work expeditiously to implement the recommendations in the [OIG] report and take a more proactive stance towards preparing facilities, both emergent and non-emergent, and staff for how to respond to encounters related to sexual assault,” wrote the Senators to VA Secretary Denis McDonough. “Despite the low volume of emergent acute sexual assault victims presenting in VA emergency departments and urgent care centers, we expect the Department to ensure our veterans receive the best possible health care and services, either onsite or via a warm handoff to a community provider.” The Senators highlighted VA’s “unacceptable” shortfalls in providing
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, 37 Colleagues Lead Push to Renew Lapsed Funding for Minority-Serving Colleges
WASHINGTON, D.C. [11/06/19]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and 37 of her Senate colleagues are leading a push to pass funding for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Tribal colleges, and other minority-serving institutions. In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Sen. Smith, along with Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and their colleagues, called for the immediate passage of the FUTURE Act, which would reauthorize $255 million in mandatory federal funding for these institutions, and expired on September 30, 2019. The House of Representatives approved the legislation unanimously in September. “Minnesota’s Tribal Colleges are important institutions and serve as key resources for Native American students, and minority-serving institutions of higher education serve nearly 6 million students nationwide,” said Sen.
Klobuchar, Smith Announce over $26 Million for Rural Electric Infrastructure Investments in Minnesota
WASHINGTON– U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded loan funding totaling over $26 million for rural electric infrastructure improvements across Minnesota. “These investments will help our rural electric providers better serve Minnesotans by adding connections, energizing additional miles of transmission lines, and providing for more reliable electric infrastructure across the state,” Klobuchar said.“Projects like these not only boost the economy, but also help to modernize our electric grid and support essential services throughout our state.” “We need to strengthen rural Minnesota’s electric infrastructure because it’s vital to building a
U.S. Senators Klobuchar & Smith Push Consumer Watchdog to Investigate Mismanagement of Student Loan Program
WASHINGTON, D.C. [11/04/2019]—Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) are calling on the federal government’s consumer watchdog to investigate whether a key student loan service company mismanaged a student loan forgiveness program designed to help people who take on careers in public service. The Senators were joined by 21 of their Democratic colleagues in a letter urging Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Director Kathy Kraninger to investigate student loan servicer Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) for mismanagement of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). Congress established PSLF over a decade ago to encourage people to work
U.S. Sens. Smith & Collins’ Bipartisan Kay Hagan Tick Act Moves Forward in Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C. [10/31/19]—Today, the Senate Health Committee voted to move forward bipartisan legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) that aims to improve research, prevention, diagnostics and treatment for tick-borne diseases. Their bill now heads to the floor for full consideration by the Senate. The Kay Hagan Tick Act unites the effort to confront the alarming public health threat posed by Lyme disease and other tick-borne diseases, which have risen exponentially from approximately 30,000 cases in 2003 to an estimated 450,000 last year. The bill was renamed in honor of former Senator Kay Hagan, who recently passed away
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