Latest Releases
U.S. Senators Klobuchar, Smith, Announce Significant Federal Funding to Help Minnesota Families and Seniors With Heating Costs
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith (both D-Minn.), announced over $112 million in federal funding to help families and seniors pay for energy costs this winter. The funding was made possible in part through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which both Klobuchar and Smith helped pass. “As Minnesota prepares for winter, families shouldn’t have to choose between heating their homes or buying other necessities,” said Klobuchar. “This federal funding will help families and seniors across our state pay their energy bills and keep their homes warm.” “As the temperature starts to drop in Minnesota, everyone should be able to heat their homes and stay warm,” said Senator Smith. “For low-income families, high energy prices can force an impossible choice between heating their homes and other essentials like rent, food, or medicine. I’m proud of our work to secure this funding, which will help families in Minnesota afford their heating costs and utility bills in the coming winter months.” The funding is issued through the Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides families with payment assistance to support their home energy needs. LIHEAP can also be used to weatherize homes to make them more energy efficient, and mitigate energy emergencies during disasters and extreme weather. Households can easily identify if they are eligible for assistance by using the LIHEAP Eligibility Tool on energyhelp.us. Those interested in applying for LIHEAP can visit energyhelp.us or call the National Energy Assistance Referral (NEAR) hotline toll-free at: 1-866-674-6327.
Senator Smith, Colleagues Introduce Senate Resolution in Solidarity with UAW Workers on Strike
WASHINGTON, [10.19.23] – U.S. Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.) joined Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and 31 of their colleagues in the Senate to introduce a resolution in solidarity with 150,000 members of United Auto Workers (UAW) bargaining for a fair contract. Autoworkers voted to go on strike in September– calling for a fair share of the record-breaking profits their labor produces as well as cost-of-living adjustments, an end to two-tier wage system, and restoration of pension benefits. Since then, the strike has expanded to 44 locations across 22 states. It is one of the largest U.S. strikes in the past three decades. “Workers bailed out the Big 3 auto manufacturers during the Great Recession to keep the companies afloat. Now, these companies make billions in profit while workers see stagnant wages,” said Smith. “I stand with the UAW workers in Minnesota and around the country who are striking for a fair contract and call on the automakers to negotiate with them in good faith.” “The fight the UAW is waging has everything to do with the outrageous level of corporate greed and arrogance on the part of senior executives in the automobile industry and their backers on Wall Street,” said Sanders. “At a time when the Big 3 automakers have made $250 billion in profits over the past decade, it is absolutely unacceptable that wages for the average autoworker have gone down by 30 percent in the past 20 years after adjusting for inflation. If these companies could afford
Klobuchar, Smith Introduce Legislation to Develop More Effective, Universal Flu Vaccine
U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar and Tina Smith today introduced the Flu Vaccine Act with Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) to encourage additional National Institutes of Health (NIH) research to develop a more effective flu vaccine. The United States has already seen 63 pediatric deaths and high levels of illness and hospitalizations related to the flu this season. One-in-10 Americans who died the week ending on January 20th died from the flu or pneumonia. The flu costs the nation $10.4 billion in direct medical costs annually and $87 billion in total economic burden. The current flu vaccine is only 60 percent effective at best,
Sen. Tina Smith’s Statement on Commerce Dept. Recommendation for Steep New Tariffs on Foreign Steel
Today, U.S. Senator Tina Smith released the following statement on an announcement that the Department of Commerce will recommend heavy new tariffs on foreign steel imports. “One of my first stops as Senator was in Eveleth, home to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame, as well as many of the hardest-working men and women in the country,” said Sen. Smith. “When I was there, I talked with local steelworkers about the biggest challenges facing Northern Minnesota. They told me their jobs are at risk if we don’t continue to crack down on steel dumping from countries like China. Since then, I pressed
Sen. Tina Smith Named to Bipartisan Select Committee to Solve Pensions Crisis Facing 22,000 Minnesotans
Sen. Tina Smith was appointed to a newly formed bipartisan panel tasked with finding solutions to a financial crisis that’s threatening the hard-earned pensions of 22,000 retired Minnesotans. The Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans, established as part of the bipartisan budget agreement reached earlier this month, will provide recommendations and legislative language to significantly improve the solvency of multiemployer pension plans and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Without reforms, as many as 100 pension plans across the country—including the troubled Central States Pension Fund, which covers those 22,000 Minnesotans—are on track to become insolvent. “There are
Sen. Tina Smith’s First Bill Would Address Unscrupulous Big Pharma Tactic That Prevents Minnesotans from Accessing Affordable Rx Drugs
U.S. Senator Tina Smith’s first standalone piece of legislation—the Expanding Access to Low Cost Generic Drugs Act—takes aim at a big pharma tactic that keeps affordable generic drugs out of the hands of Minnesota families and seniors. Sen. Smith’s bill, which she introduced today and is similar to a policy endorsed by the Trump Administration, gets at the heart of a major concern facing Minnesota families and seniors right now: prescription drug prices. We’re at the point now where around 25 percent of Americans who take prescription drugs report difficulty affording them. And while generic drugs are often a much less
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