Tag: Amy Klobuchar

Minnesotans in Congress hope for last-minute COVID relief deal

WASHINGTON – A bipartisan push in the U.S. Senate for a COVID-19 relief package faces unclear prospects in the waning days of the current Congress, but several Minnesota lawmakers still hope for a last-minute breakthrough.

“You’ve got to start somewhere,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, a Democrat, said of a $908 billion proposal outlined Tuesday by moderate U.S. senators from both parties.

Klobuchar said she would “not come home until we get something done,” echoing colleagues who want Congress to act before the House and Senate break for Christmas. Continue reading.

Barrett Wouldn’t Say That Voter Intimidation Is a Federal Crime

On the second day of her Supreme Court confirmation hearings, Judge Amy Coney Barrett refused to answer Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-MN) questions when asked whether federal law prohibits voter intimidation at the polls.

In recent months, voter intimidation and voter suppression have been hot-button issues, with Donald Trump during the first presidential debate going so far as to openly solicit his supporters to commit voter intimidation.

“Go to the polls and watch very carefully,” Trump said, before spiraling into frequently debunked conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud in Pennsylvania. Continue reading.

Minnesota Congressional Delegation Requests Federal Relief For State Unemployment Insurance Programs

“The rapid rise in unemployment claims in Minnesota and across the country is unprecedented and requires renewed attention from Congress as the pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our economy” 

WASHINGTON — U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Tina Smith (D-MN), and Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN-2), Dean Phillips (D-MN-3), Betty McCollum (D-MN-4), Ilhan Omar (D-MN-5) sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Minority Leader McCarthy requesting relief for state unemployment insurance programs in any upcoming coronavirus relief package. In the letter, the members of the Minnesota delegation highlighted the strain that the coronavirus pandemic has placed on state unemployment insurance programs and requested that the next relief package allow the Federal Government to cover a portion of the upfront costs paid by non-profit and government employers – a relief measure that the Senate has already approved.

“The rapid rise in unemployment claims in Minnesota and across the country is unprecedented and requires renewed attention from Congress as the pandemic continues to have a devastating impact on our economy,” the lawmakers wrote. “This extreme level of unemployment has also placed significant stress on Minnesota’s unemployment insurance program—and unemployment insurance programs in states across the country.” Continue reading “Minnesota Congressional Delegation Requests Federal Relief For State Unemployment Insurance Programs”

As Minority-Owned Businesses are Hit Hard by Pandemic, Rep. Phillips Strengthens Bill to Promote Economic Equity for New Businesses

WASHINGTON, DC — Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) announced during a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee today that he will strengthen his bill, The New Business Preservation Act (H.R. 6403), by including aggressive changes to benefit women and minority entrepreneurs. Phillips’s bill authorizes the Treasury Department to partner with states to make equity investments in new businesses alongside private venture capital companies, with special consideration given to women- and minority-owned enterprises. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) leads the companion bill in the Senate.

“The COVID-19 pandemic will surely precipitate the failure of far too many businesses, and the hurdles to securing capital are terribly high – especially for women and minority entrepreneurs,” Phillips said. “New businesses account for a disproportionate share of innovation, economic growth, and job creation and are critical to our nation’s ability to weather and recover from the economic blow inflicted by coronavirus. We must take action today to ensure a thriving, equitable business landscape tomorrow.”

 

Watch Below: Rep. Phillips, Experts Talk Economic Equity in Financial Services Diversity and Inclusion Hearing

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Phillips made his comments during an exchange at a hearing focusing on the state of the American economy of the House Financial Services Committee’s Diversity and Inclusion Subcommittee, which included panelists representing the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and U.S. Black Chambers, Inc.

Startups are typically ineligible for financing of their business operations or growth by way of loans or other credit facilities from banking companies due to a lack of operating history, collateral, or current earnings and cash flow, or the business’s overall risk profile.

Under the program created by the New Business Preservation Act, the Treasury Department would make an initial investment of $1.5 billion in federal funds allocated to states in portion to each state’s percentage total population and attention it typically receives from venture capital firms.  There would be another $5 million allocated to states in a second round of funding to support companies that perform well.

The program will be self-sustaining, with returns on investment reinvested in new businesses in future years. The bill also contains strict oversight measures, requires private investors to shoulder risk, and insulates investment decisions from political considerations.

Phillips plans to strengthen the mission of diversity and inclusion within the bill by adding provisions that would:

  • only fund startups that are majority owned or majority managed by women and/or minorities in areas of the country currently receiving the lionshare of national VC investment—like Silicon Valley, NYC, and Boston.
  • require at least 50 percent women and minority representation on the boards of venture funds who choose to participate in the 1-to-1 match in these highly sought after cities
  • among the other 47 states, require at least 50 percent women and minority representation in the governing investment bodies which determine where funds will flow
  • require annual reporting on diversity representation within the state’s venture capital industry

Read More From The Wall Street Journal: Nearly 70,000 Tech Startup Employees Have Lost Their Jobs Since March

Sen. Amy Klobuchar drops from consideration as Joe Biden’s running mate

The Minnesota senator says she told Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden that he should pick a woman of color.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said Thursday night that she asked Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden to take her name out of consideration as his vice presidential running mate, and recommended that he choose a woman of color.

“America must seize on this moment, and I truly believe, as I told the vice president last night, that I think this is a moment to put a woman of color on the ticket,” Klobuchar said in an interview on MSNBC.

In a follow-up interview with the Star Tribune, Klobuchar clarified that she reached out to Biden to ask him to pull her name from his VP list, not the other way around. She said she was still being vetted for the vice presidential slot, though many Democrats believe Klobuchar’s chances suffered after the unrest that sprang up in the wake of George Floyd’s killing by Minneapolis police officers on May 25. Continue reading.

Senate Democrats vow to keep pushing for more funds for mail-in voting

The Hill logoSens. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) vowed on Thursday to keep pushing for additional funding for states to boost their mail-in voting efforts in the midst of the coronavirus crisis. 

The pledge by Klobuchar and Wyden comes a day after the Senate unanimously approved a $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill that included $400 million for states to enhance mail-in voting and other efforts to keep elections stable despite the ongoing pandemic.

For the two senators, and for other election advocates, the funding level fell woefully short of the $2 billion they had pressed the Senate to include for elections earlier this week.  Continue reading.

Amy Klobuchar says her husband has coronavirus

He is in a hospital in Virginia.

Minnesota Senator and former Democratic presidential candidate Amy Klobuchar says her husband has been diagnosed with COVID-19.

Klobuchar confirmed her husband, Professor John Bessler, has contracted the virus in a statement Monday, saying they got the test results at 7 a.m.

He started feeling sick when he was in Washington D.C. and Klobuchar was in Minnesota, and initially thought it was a cold but “immediately quarantined himself just in case and stopped going to his job teaching in Baltimore.” Continue reading.

Senators call for more TSA screeners at Minneapolis-St. Paul airport

Construction aggravated an existing problem at the main terminal, they said.

Long se­curi­ty lines at the Min­ne­ap­olis-St. Paul International Airport’s main ter­mi­nal prompt­ed Min­ne­so­ta’s two U.S. sena­tors on Wednesday to call for ad­di­tion­al staff­ing from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).

On Mon­day, the Metropolitan Air­ports Commission (MAC) launched a tem­po­rary reconfiguration of two se­curi­ty check­points in the tick­et­ing lob­by of Ter­mi­nal 1, also known as the Lind­bergh ter­mi­nal. The new sys­tem prompted by a con­struc­tion pro­ject has cre­at­ed long lines, con­fu­sion and out­rage a­mong pas­sen­gers this week.

But Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Sen. Tina Smith, both D-Minn., said the con­struc­tion ex­ac­er­bat­es an al­read­y fes­ter­ing problem: TSA staff­ing has not kept up with the growth of pas­sen­gers fly­ing from MSP.

View the complete August 22 article by Janet Moore on The Star Tribune website here.

Minnesota Congressional delegation pens letter supporting homeless vet registry

The Minnesota Congressional delegation sent a letter Thursday, May 23, to Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert Wilkie highlighting Minnesota’s efforts to address veteran homelessness and urging him to examine if the VA could benefit from implementing similar programs at the federal level.

The delegation includes Sens. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Reps. Jim Hagedorn, R-Minn., Angie Craig, D-Minn., Dean Phillips, D-Minn., Betty McCollum, D-Minn., Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Tom Emmer, R-Minn., Collin Peterson, D-Minn., and Pete Stauber, R-Minn.

According to a news release, the Minnesota Homeless Veteran Registry was created in 2014 to identify all known homeless veterans in an effort to ensure they have access to appropriate housing and social services. The registry helps to recognize the underlying factors contributing to veteran homelessness, including mental health issues, substance abuse and economic hardship. In the letter, the members asked Wilkie about the VA’s efforts to address veteran homelessness and urged him to consider implementing Minnesota’s registry program.

View the complete May 24 article from The Brainerd Dispatch on their website here.

Sen. Klobuchar on Russian interference: Trump ‘makes it worse by calling it a hoax’

Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) on Sunday sharply criticized President Trump’s response to Russian interference in U.S. elections, saying that the president “makes it worse by calling it a hoax.”

Trump had a lengthy phone call with Russian President Vladi­mir Putin on Friday. After being repeatedly asked by reporters whether he raised the issue of election interference or warned Putin not to do it again, Trump eventually acknowledged the issue, saying, “We didn’t discuss that.”

Klobuchar, who is running for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination, said Sunday that there is “ample evidence” that Trump is not concerned about the possibility that Russia may try to interfere in the next election. She accused Trump of dismissing the seriousness of the issue.

View the complete May 5 article by Felicia Sonmez on The Washington Post website here.