Latest Releases
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Introduces Legislation to Help Child Care Providers Serve Nutritious Meals
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D-MN) and Bob Casey (D-PA) introduced legislation to help ease the financial stress on child care providers across the country. Providers such as family child care homes, child care centers, Head Start programs, and after-school programs provide meals to more than 4.2 million children each day with the support of the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP). The Child Care Nutrition Enhancement Act would increase the reimbursement rates child care providers receive for these meals. Not only would this help ensure millions of children receive nutritious meals, it would also ease the significant financial burdens for both child care providers and parents struggling to afford child care. Companion legislation has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Representative Greg Landsman (D-OH-1). “I have heard from too many childcare providers in Minnesota who have to dip into their own pockets to feed the kids in their care because of insufficient federal reimbursements. Investing more in childcare will help both families who are struggling to afford care and providers who are having trouble breaking even,” said Senator Smith. “This legislation would improve an effective, but under-resourced, existing program to ensure our kids are receiving nutritious meals and help ease the financial burden on childcare providers and parents.” “Every child deserves access to nutritious meals, especially during their formative years,” said Senator Bob Casey. “The research is clear: the CACFP improves the quality of meals in child care settings. By easing the
U.S. Senator Tina Smith Joins Elizabeth Warren, Banking Committee Democrats in Pressing SEC Chair to Require Disclosure of Corporate Lobbying Expenditures
Washington, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Tina Smith (D – Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and John Fetterman (D-Pa.) signed onto a letter led by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D – Mass.) urging Gary Gensler, Chair of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), to create new rules requiring public companies to disclose their spending on lobbying efforts. Public companies are not currently required to report information on the details of their lobbying to the SEC even as corporate lobbying expenditures reach record highs. “In 2022, total federal lobbying expenditures reached $4.1 billion – the highest since 2010. Amazon and Meta spent almost $20 million each to influence decision-making in Congress and across government agencies, while the U.S. Chamber of Commerce – which counts companies like JPMorgan Chase, Alphabet, and Chevron among its members – spent $79.4 million,” wrote the senators. “While these figures are staggering, they provide little insight into the interests that companies spend millions each year to advance. This lack of transparency erodes the ability of everyday investors to make informed decisions about where to invest their money – and where their money goes once they have invested.” Specifically, the senators are requesting that such rules require disclosure of lobbying strategy, the total amount of direct or indirect contributions to registered state and federal lobbyists and any material risks related to or arising from lobbying strategies and expenditures. The senators requested the SEC provide them with details on their plans to develop and issue such rules no later than
U.S. Senators Klobuchar and Smith: Over $1 Million Awarded to Organizations that Help People from Diverse Backgrounds in Minnesota Participate in Agriculture
WASHINGTON, D.C. [10/9/2019]— U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) announced that more than $1 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding has been awarded to organizations that help people from diverse backgrounds in Minnesota participate in agriculture. This funding will support the Latino Economic Development Center (LEDC), which helps immigrant and Latino farmers in Minnesota overcome barriers to growth. It will also support the American Indian Higher Ed Consortium (AIHEC) to engage students in agriculture at tribal colleges and universities—including the four in Minnesota—and improve Native American farmers and ranchers’ agricultural practices. The senators said that this funding is available to qualifying organizations through the USDA’s Outreach and Assistance for Socially Disadvantaged Farmers and Ranchers and Veteran Farmers and
U.S. Senator Tina Smith: “Protecting Renewable Fuel Standard Signals Trump Administration Heard Concerns From American Farmers Loud and Clear”
WASHINGTON, D.C. [10/04/19]—Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.)—a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee—released the following statement after the Trump Administration announced it would account for the harmful abuse of small refinery hardship waivers granted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) blending targets. “Rural communities, farmers, clean energy producers and agribusinesses need a strong Renewable Fuel Standard to thrive. The RFS supports thousands of local jobs and helps lead to billions of dollars in economic activity, it cuts our dependence on foreign oil, and it helps fight global warming,” said Sen. Smith. “While I wish it had taken less
U.S. Senator Tina Smith, Bipartisan Group of Senators Release Report Recommending Steps to Ensure Stable Education for Students in Foster Care
WASHINGTON, D.C. [10/3/2019]—This week, U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and a bipartisan group of Senate colleagues released a report on how the federal government can better help ensure a stable education for students in foster care who are far too often bounced from school to school. Sen. Smith—a member of the Senate Education Committee—said that these new placements and disruptions can jeopardize students’ academic achievement. The federal law is clear that when children are brought into foster care or change placements, the state must ensure they remain in the school in which they are enrolled at the time of each placement so long as it is in the child’s
U.S. Sens. Klobuchar, Smith Fight to Overturn U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Harmful Rule that Guts Protections for Student Loan Borrowers
WASHINGTON, D.C. [09/30/19]–U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) are pushing to overturn U.S. Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ move to gut essential protections for student loan borrowers who’ve been wronged by their schools. The Senators joined more than thirty of their Senate colleagues in introducing a Congressional Review Act (CRA) resolution of disapproval of DeVos’ rewritten borrower defense rule, which makes it more difficult for borrowers who are defrauded by their school or harmed by their school’s closure to receive relief. “Students shouldn’t have to worry about predatory practices from colleges while they are preparing to further their education and
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