Today, U.S. Senator for Minnesota Tina Smith once again took part in the Farmfest Senate debate and proved she fights for Minnesota’s agriculture community. Sen. Smith works across party lines to get things done, and her record reflects that.
She has a deep understanding of issues impacting farmers, and she’s had over a dozen of her bills and provisions signed into law. At today’s Farmfest Senate debate, Sen. Smith outlined her record, which includes:
- Authoring and championing key provisions in the Farm Bill, which passed with strong bipartisan support (87-13);
- Expanding mental health services with Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska;
- Improving rural health care with Republican Senator Mike Rounds of South Dakota;
- Working to lower the cost of insulin with Republican Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana;
- Securing funding to expand telehealth services and provide aid for Minnesota farmers amid COVID-19;
- Successfully pushing for improvements to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) by opening new markets for U.S. dairy farmers, strengthening protections for workers, and improving access to affordable medicine;
- Championing key bipartisan legislation to expand broadband in Tribal, low-income and rural areas and small towns, which was included in the 2018 Farm Bill and signed into law;
- Supporting the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) and fighting back at every turn against President Trump and his administration granting “small refinery waivers” that strain the market and hurt Minnesota farmers;
- Strengthening and funding the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) to help farmers transition to energy efficient operations; and
- Introduced legislation that would achieve net-zero emissions from the electric sector by mid-century and worked across the aisle on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) to permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).