Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Presses Postmaster General to Ensure Timely Deliveries, Safe Working Conditions Ahead of Busy Holiday Season
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) sent a letter to U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy requesting information about how the Postal Service plans to ensure on-time deliveries and safe working conditions during the holiday season. Millions of Minnesotans depend of the Postal Service to pay bills, receive prescriptions, and conduct other essential business. When service is unreliable, Minnesotans can face serious consequences – from late payment fees and social security checks to days without critical prescription medications. Smith also pushed DeJoy to ensure Postal Service employees, who are often overworked during this busy time of year, are adequately supported. “The timeliness of deliveries and safety of workers are both critical issues in Minnesota, where severe weather adds a complicated dimension to the usual peak-season delivery challenges,” wrote Senator Smith. “I urge you to take every possible precaution and preparation to protect workers and ensure timely deliveries this holiday season.” In her letter, Smith requested responses to the following questions by November 23, 2023: You can find a full copy of the letter here.
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Co-Leads a Bicameral Push to Renew Expired Funding for Childcare
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Bob Casey (D-PA), along with members of the House of Representatives, led a bicameral group of their colleagues in urging congressional leadership to renew expired funding for childcare in any supplemental funding package. Funding from the American Rescue Plan Act expired in September, and the state of childcare continues to be in crisis mode. Without this funding, many childcare providers have either closed or struggle to keep their doors open for working families. The letter comes on the heels of President Biden’s request to Congress for $16 billion to address the childcare crisis, which the members called for in August. “We write today to urge you to include robust funding for child care in any supplemental funding package considered by the Appropriations Committee. Child care is unaffordable and hard to find for working families, and child care providers across the country are struggling to stay afloat,” wrote the lawmakers. “Child care providers in communities across the country are at risk of closure. The child care stabilization relief funds provided a much-needed lifeline to the child care industry, but it is crucial that, at minimum, we sustain that level of investment to ensure the industry’s survival and prevent a new emergency.” Smith, a member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, has been a leader in pressing for expanding access to childcare. She is an original cosponsor of the Child Care Stabilization Act, which aims to
U.S. Senators Smith & Klobuchar Announce Public Housing Fire Safety Act Following Tragic Fire in Minneapolis
WASHINGTON, D.C. [12/18/2019]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) introduced legislation—the Public Housing Fire Safety Act—that would create a program to provide support to public housing authorities who wish to retrofit older high-rise apartment buildings with sprinkler systems. The Federal Fire Safety Act of 1992 required the installation of sprinklers in all new government-owned high rise buildings. However, there are thousands of public housing apartment buildings around the country built before that date. According to data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), for example, nearly all of the high-rise public housing buildings in Minneapolis, Minnesota were
As 2020 Budget Agreement is Passed, Key Bipartisan Measures U.S. Senator Tina Smith Authored & Championed Set to Become Law and Benefit Minnesotans
WASHINGTON, D.C. [12/18/19]—As Congress sends its final budget agreement for 2020 to the President’s desk, Minnesotans will benefit from several bipartisan measures U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) authored and championed. Sen. Smith’s bipartisan efforts to address health care costs and skyrocketing prescription drug prices, support rural housing, ramp up clean energy, expand disaster relief to hard-hit farmers and preserve electric cooperatives’ tax-exempt status while expanding much-needed broadband services in rural communities were all included in the final budget package expected to be signed into law in the coming days. “Here we are at the end of the year, and
U.S. Senators Tina Smith, Mike Braun Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Address Underhanded Big Pharma Tactic That Prevents Americans from Accessing Affordable Rx Drugs
WASHINGTON, D.C. [12/18/19]—Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Mike Braun (R-Ind.) introduced legislation to bring low-cost generics to market, increase competition and help American families and seniors access their medications. The Expanding Access to Low-Cost Generics Act—which was the first standalone piece of legislation introduced by Sen. Smith—gets to the heart of a major concern families are facing right now: prescription drug prices. Nearly three in ten Americans report that they did not fill a prescription because it was too expensive. Anti-competitive behavior between brand name and generic drug manufacturers is delaying timely access to low-cost generic drugs. For example,
U.S. Senators Smith & Collins’ Bipartisan Bill to Combat Lyme and Other Tick-Borne Diseases Advances
WASHINGTON, D.C. [12/17/19]—U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) announced that their bipartisan bill to improve research, prevention, diagnostics, and treatment for tick-borne diseases was included in the government spending agreement released yesterday. Once passed by both the House and Senate, the bill will proceed to the President’s desk to be signed into law. 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. Sens. Smith and Collins renamed the
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