Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar, Tina Smith Announce Investment for Utility Upgrades in Granite Falls
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-MN) announced a grant from the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) to the city of Granite Falls, Minnesota, for electrical grid upgrades in support of local businesses. This grant will provide an updated utility infrastructure, providing businesses with reliable service during future natural disasters. This EDA investment will be matched with $1.9 million in local funds, is expected to create or retain 275 jobs, and generate $1 million in private investment. “A modernized power grid enables rural communities to keep pace with investment into local businesses,” said Senator Klobuchar. “This federal funding will enable Granite Falls to upgrade its electric utility infrastructure to make it more resilient against future natural disasters.” “Reliable electricity is vital to every thriving community, and Granite Falls is no exception,” said Senator Smith. “This grant will strengthen electricity grid infrastructure in Granite Falls, support local business and improve the lives of the community.” This project is funded under the Disaster Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023, which provided EDA with $483 million in additional Economic Adjustment Assistance (EAA) Program funds for disaster relief and recovery for areas that received a major disaster declaration occurring in calendar years 2021 and 2022. ###
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Introduces Legislation to End Veteran Homelessness Nationwide
Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Chair of the Senate Housing Subcommittee, introduced the Housing for All Veterans Act, legislation that would help bring an effective end to veteran homelessness. Minnesota is on the cusp of ending veteran homelessness, and nationwide levels of homelessness among former service members have been cut in half in the fifteen years since the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs launched the first-ever strategic plan to prevent and end the scourge of veteran homelessness in America. This legislation would help get us the rest of the way there and prevent veteran homelessness going forward. “We promise our veterans that we will take care of them after their service to our nation. But every day that we have veterans struggling to find a safe, affordable place to live, we’re failing them,” said Senator Smith. “Guaranteeing housing for low-income veterans shouldn’t be optional. It should a promise fulfilled for every veteran, to bring them home. We’ve made some great progress in solving veteran homelessness in the last fifteen years – Minnesota especially. But the Housing for All Veterans Act would finish the job and ensure every veteran has a roof over their heads.” “Our country continues to face a crisis of housing affordability,” said Kathryn Monet, CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “NCHV is thankful for Senator Smith’s leadership to address this crisis head on for veterans facing housing instability. Subsidies are a crucial support and we urge Congress to act upon this bill as a downpayment toward a world where affordable housing is available for all Americans.” “This legislation addresses the root cause of housing affordability, providing our veterans with a long-term, sustainable
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Leads Push To Ensure Historic Investment In Childcare, Universal Pre-K as Part of Build Back Better Budget
WASHINGTON, D.C. [10/25/21]— U.S. Sen. Tina Smith (D-Minn) said today that after 18 months of a devastating pandemic, historic investments in childcare and universal pre-kindergarten education will be necessary to help working families – especially women – return to the workforce, a key element in getting businesses and the economy back on track. In a letter Friday, Sen. Smith led a group of 15 key Senators in pressing President Biden and Congressional leaders to include $450 billion in the Build Back Better budget package now being negotiated for both childcare and universal pre-k. “Our economy will not work, nor
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Backs Administration Decision to Complete Two Year Mining Safety Study, Which She’d Pushed For
MINNESOTA [10/20/21]— U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) said today that she backs the decision by the U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA) and Interior (DOI) to complete a two-year study that will determine the safety of copper-nickel mining in the watershed that feeds the world-renowned Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW), which is she pushed for earlier this year. The safety study was abruptly halted in 2018, without explanation. In March, Sen. Smith pushed U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland to direct key agencies under their jurisdictions to finish the study. Sen. Smith released the following statement on
U.S. Senator Tina Smith to Vote No on Minneapolis Police Ballot Amendment
MINNESOTA [10/18/21]— U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) today released the following statement on her decision to vote No on the Minneapolis police ballot amendment: “I will be voting no on Amendment #2 to the Minneapolis City Charter. Like many of my Minneapolis neighbors, I have wrestled with how to vote. My core value is to find the right path toward the transformational change we need in public safety, so that everyone is safe in their home and communities. We know this promise has not been realized for many black and brown communities, which have been traumatized by an epidemic of violence
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Seeks Probe of Firms that Pressure Vulnerable Minnesotans to Unfairly Give Up Funds From Injury Settlements
MINNESOTA [10/18/21]— U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) has urged the nation’s top financial regulator to probe firms that have aggressively targeted accident victims in Minnesota and across the country to give up injury settlements designed to provide them income over many years in exchange for a one-time smaller lump-sum payment – typically taking half the value of the settlement or more. In a recent letter to Rohit Chopra, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), Sen. Smith pressed for an investigation into the firms operating in the largely-unregulated industry that buys “structured settlements” from people who have been injured or
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