Latest Releases
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding to Improve Osakis’s Water Treatment Plant and Water Tower
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $497,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant and a $651,000 loan to make improvements to the water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis. Specifically, the funding supports a project that will convert the iron filter to a biological ammonia-removal filter to allow chlorine to better clean the lines during water treatment which will help protect the distribution system. The project will also renovate Osakis’s water tower, which hasn’t been repaired since its construction in 1997. “The water treatment plant and water tower in Osakis require major repairs to ensure residents have access to quality water,” said Klobuchar. “This federal funding will advance the Osakis treatment plant and water tower modernization project and strengthen the city’s water infrastructure.” “Keeping our water clean and safe is important for safeguarding public health,” said Smith. “Securing this loan will benefit the residents of Osakis by better filtering their water of contaminants and updating their 15-year-old water tower.” Senators Klobuchar and Smith are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which oversees theUSDA. This federal funding was secured through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Program grants can be used by communities across the country to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community in a primarily rural area, such as health care facilities, public safety services, educational services,
Klobuchar, Smith Announce Federal Funding to Improve Red Lake Falls’s Water and Waste Disposal Infrastructure
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN) announced a $906,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development grant and an $8,310,000 loan to make improvements to the Red Lake Falls’s water, wastewater, and sewer infrastructure. Specifically, this project will construct a new water tower and pump station and install new water meters. “Red Lake Falls’s current water, wastewater, and sewer infrastructure no longer meets the needs of the city,” said Klobuchar. “Using this federal funding, Red Lake Falls can make the necessary improvements to enhance these critical public services.” “Minnesotans deserve to have safe, clean water,” said Smith. “The city of Red Lake Falls is no exception, and this investment from the USDA will update the city’s water and wastewater infrastructure system, directly impacting all of its residents.” Senators Klobuchar and Smith are members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, which oversees the USDA. This federal funding was secured through the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Direct Loan and Grant Program. Program grants can be used by communities across the country to develop essential community facilities in rural areas. An essential community facility is defined as a facility that provides an essential service to the local community in a primarily rural area, such as health care facilities, public safety services, educational services, and more. ###
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Amy Klobuchar’s Measure to Install Fire Sprinkler Systems in Public Housing Passes the House
WASHINGTON, D.C. [8/5/2020]—Legislation introduced by U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) to encourage public housing authorities to install sprinkler systems in older apartment buildings is one step closer to becoming law after recently clearing the House of Representatives as part of a larger House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding package. And today, Sen. Smith and Klobuchar sent a letter calling for their bill to be included in the next Senate appropriations package. The Public Housing Fire Safety Act would create an annual $25 million competitive grant program to provide funds to public housing authorities who wish to retrofit older high-rise apartment buildings with sprinkler systems. “The fire at Cedar High Apartments was a horrific in the Cedar-Riverside community.
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Chris Murphy Introduce Bill to Study, Address How Social Inequities Impact Health in Communities of Color
WASHINGTON, D.C. [08/6/20]—U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) said today that factors like unemployment, hunger, lack of affordable housing, and education have far more impact on Americans’ health—especially in communities of color—than just medical care and treatment. On Wednesday they introduced legislation designed to study the role these “social determinants” play in exacerbating health inequities and to invest in addressing them. The Senators said that medical treatment accounts for only 10 to 20 percent of an individual’s overall health, while other social determinants of health (SDOH) account for the other 80 to 90 percent. Their Improving Social Determinants of Health Act
After Minnesota Workers Lose Hundreds in Workplace Savings Accounts Following Layoffs, Childcare Closures, Sen. Smith Introduces Bills to Protect Workers’ Savings From Forfeiture
WASHINGTON, D.C. [8/3/20]–U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)–a member of the Senate Banking Committee–introduced two pieces of legislation to prevent workers from losing their health care and childcare savings when they lose a job, have a surgery cancelled, or a child care center is closed. The measures are a direct response to letters Sen. Smith received from constituents who had lost hundreds or thousands of dollars in employer-based savings accounts following layoffs earlier this year. Federal Savings Accounts (FSAs) are an optional benefit that employers may offer to their employees. It allows workers to set aside money on a tax-advantaged basis to pay for certain out-of-pocket
U.S Senator Tina Smith Introduces Marijuana Reform Legislation to Protect Health, Safety, Civil Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. [08/3/20]—U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced legislation to address health and safety considerations for implementing the legalization of marijuana at the federal level. As a complement to critical work to address the racist impacts of the failed federal prohibition on marijuana, Sen. Smith’s Substance Regulation and Safety Act of 2020 (SRSA) will ensure that the federal legalization process protects the health and safety of consumers, patients, drivers, and youth. The bill would remove marijuana from the nation’s list of illegal controlled substances, ensure the same federal oversight of marijuana products as tobacco and alcohol now have, and put racially-sensitive safeguards in place to combat cannabis use by
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