Tag: Tina Smith

With four months now on the job, Smith is in the thick of the legislative process with, among other things, the new farm bill on her plate. But beyond what may be seen as the traditional elements of a farm bill, Smith says she is also going to work to champion better nutrition programs that are typically association with farm bill legislation; programs that help people who may not be able to help themselves right now. But Smith then says there is a third component she is trying to work into the farm bill. "Our farm bill needs to include strong rural development programs like, for example, what I'm proposing to help expand rural broadband." But having easy access to broadband in rural areas also makes those areas more likely to land new businesses and new residents. "The Lewis and Clark project is extremely important. Smith worked very hard to get state funding to complete the Minnesota section of the Lewis and Clark project. "The state has been backfilling the funding that the federal government was supposed to be providing. So we really have to make the federal government stand up to its agreement. So far the feds haven't done that and it has cost the state of Minnesota $41 million and climbing.

Richard Painter, a Republican and former White House lawyer in the George W Bush administration, will run as a Democrat for the Minnesota Senate seat vacated by Al Franken, explicitly in opposition to Donald Trump and his “collaborators” in the Republican party. Painter will challenge Tina Smith, who was appointed to Franken’s seat after his January resignation, in a Democratic primary in August. “I’m running against Donald Trump and every one of his collaborators in the Republican party,” Painter said. He had been exploring a run since early April but was undecided on whether to run as a Republican, Democrat or an independent. He is currently a law professor at the University of Minnesota. “I can’t be a spoiler, not this year,” he said. He discussed Democratic positions such as single-payer healthcare and blocking mining projects in north-eastern Minnesota but said he would not spend campaign money to attack Smith. Trump is threatening to do to our country, and the only alternative this fall is going to be to vote for Democrats." The special election was triggered in January, when Franken left office after a slew of women made accusations of sexual misconduct. The winner will serve out Franken’s term, ending in 2020.