Latest Releases
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Significant Federal Infrastructure Grant to Improve Highway 169
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $24.7 million federal grant for the US 169 Rural Safety and Mobility Interchange Project in Sherburne County, which will eliminate the signal-controlled intersection at County Road 4 and replace it with a grade-separated, hybrid diamond interchange. The current intersection has crash rates at nearly five times the state average and has been ranked the second most dangerous intersection in central Minnesota. This project will also reduce traffic congestion and accommodate anticipated growth on this important regional highway. In addition, the new interchange will have a multi-use trail for pedestrian and bike access. Funding for this project comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s INFRA (Nationally Significant Multimodal Freight & Highway Projects) grant program. “Highway 169’s signal-controlled intersection has been ranked as one of the most dangerous intersections in central Minnesota. Drivers who use this intersection every day deserve a safer alternative,” said Klobuchar. “This federal grant will make much-needed improvements to make the interchange secure for drivers and pedestrians.” “Revitalizing our infrastructure is about more than just fixing roadways and bridges; it’s about improving people’s lives, which is precisely what this project will do,” said Smith. “This intersection on Highway 169 is dangerous in its current form. Now, Minnesota has the federal investment to make this vital corridor safer for everyone.” INFRA grants can be used by communities across the country for multimodal freight and highway projects of national or regional significance to improve the safety, efficiency, and reliability of freight
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Cassidy, Cardin, Thune Reintroduce Bill to Remove Barriers to Telemental Health Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) joined her colleagues Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA), John Thune (R-SD) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) to reintroduce the bipartisan Telemental Health Care Access Act to remove barriers to telemental health services for Medicare beneficiaries. Specifically, the bill removes the requirement that Medicare beneficiaries be seen in person within six months of being treated for mental health services through telehealth. In 2020, Congress permanently expanded access for Medicare patients to be treated virtually for mental health services. Unfortunately, it also included an arbitrary requirement that would require the patient to be seen in-person before they could receive telemental services. The Telemental Health Care Access Act eliminates this in-person requirement so that patients can directly access mental health services via telehealth. “Telehealth has proved to be an important lifeline and tool to close some of the most significant gaps in patients’ access to health care services,” said Senator Smith. “Especially for Minnesotans in small towns and rural places suffering from mental health challenges, long commutes to the nearest provider can mean virtual care is the only feasible option. This bill is an important step in making it easier for mental health patients on Medicare to ask for help and get the care they need, without having to jump through administrative hoops.” “Since the pandemic, we have seen how telehealth expanded health care access for those with substance use disorders, physical ailments, and mental health conditions. It has been an important lifeline for rural communities,” said Dr. Cassidy. “This bill removes barriers to allow Medicare patients to
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Pushes Bipartisan Legislation to Help Schools Replace Outdated Kitchen Equipment that Prevents them From Serving Most Nutritious Meals
WASHINGTON, D.C. [6/25/19]— U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced bipartisan legislation to help schools in Minnesota and across the country replace inefficient and outdated kitchen equipment that may prevent them from serving students the most nutritious meals possible. The School Food Modernization Act would provide grants, loan guarantees and technical assistance to schools in need of replacing outdated equipment. “Nutritious meals in schools don’t just keep kids from going hungry; they make it so students can focus and develop a love of learning,” said Senator Smith, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “Yet,
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Secures Bipartisan Support for Her Legislation to Ensure Millions of Americans with Diabetes Aren’t Forced Into Dangerous Practice of Rationing Insulin
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/25/19]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s (D-Minn.) legislation to hold insulin manufacturers accountable for excessive increases in the price of life-sustaining insulin—announced last week in Minneapolis and set to be introduced later this week in remembrance of Minnesotan Alec Smith—secured bipartisan support thanks to Senator Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) cosponsoring the Emergency Access to Insulin Act. “Thank you to my colleague and neighbor Senator Cramer for supporting my legislation to provide Minnesotans and Americans with the insulin they need to survive, and to put us on a path to bring down the cost of insulin,” said Sen. Smith, a member
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Pushes Education Secretary DeVos to End Delays in Loan Forgiveness for Students who Attended Now-Defunct For-Profit Colleges
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/19/19]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is calling on U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to quickly process the claims of thousands of defrauded students in Minnesota and across the country seeking to get their federal student loans discharged. Thousands of pending discharge applications from students who attended now-defunct colleges – including more than 2,700 from Minnesota – have languished at the U.S. Department of Education for an average of 882 days. Sen. Smith — along with Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), and 19 of their Democratic colleagues — wrote Wednesday to U.S. Education Secretary Betsy
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Continues Fight to Secure Health Committee Hearing on Negative Consequences of Family Separation on Children
WASHINGTON, D.C. [06/24/2019]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) is again calling on leaders of the Senate Health Committee—on which she serves—to hold a hearing in order to better understand the negative health effects of the Trump Administration’s disastrous family separation policy and the health and safety conditions for children. Last year, Sen. Smith first pressed for a similar hearing shortly after allegations that at least one facility where children were being housed had forcibly injected already-traumatized children with powerful sedatives. Sen. Smith visited family detention centers herself and renewed her call this spring after reports found that thousands more children had
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