Al Franken's Blog, page 32
April 7, 2015
Huffington Post: Senate Democrats Are Getting Fed Up With The SEC’s Delay On CEO Pay Rule
Senate Democrats are losing patience with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the agency’s failure to implement a new CEO pay rule.
Democrats have been pushing the SEC for nearly five years to move forward with the rule, which Congress required the agency to develop under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform law. The rule would mandate that companies publicly disclose the ratio of their CEO’s pay to the median earnings of workers at the firm.
More than three years after Dodd-Frank passed, the SEC finally proposed the rule in September 2013. But the agency has refused to finalize it for more than 18 months — about nine times longer than the standard 60-day comment period.
“This is just another example of the SEC not acting on the authority we gave them under Wall Street reform,” Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) told HuffPost in a statement on Friday. “Since the legislation was signed into law, efforts by the SEC to implement these reforms have moved at a crawl.”
The post Huffington Post: Senate Democrats Are Getting Fed Up With The SEC’s Delay On CEO Pay Rule appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
Norwalk Reflector: Bill Clinton endorses Strickland in Ohio
Former President Bill Clinton made his first endorsement of the 2016 cycle Tuesday, backing former Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland in his bid for Senate.
Strickland is the front-runner for the nomination to challenge Republican Sen. Rob Portman. One other Democrat is also running — Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld.
“Ted Strickland offers a unique blend of qualities we need more of in Washington today: a proven record of service to hard working Ohioans, energy, determination and idealism,” Clinton said in a statement. “He knows how to reach across the aisle to find common ground and when Ohioans need him to stand his ground. No one will care more, know more, and work harder for better opportunities for every Ohioan than Ted. I’m proud to support him.”
Strickland has a long relationship with the Clintons dating back to his time as a member of the House during Clinton’s presidency. In 2008, as governor of the pivotal swing state, he was a major backer of then-Sen. Hillary Clinton’s presidential bid.
April 2, 2015
Northland News Center: Sen. Franken talks mental illness in prisons
U.S. Senator Al Franken is re–introducing legislation that would help keep those with mental illnesses out of prisons.
Sen. Franken says the legislation, which would provide money for mental health courts and veteran’s courts, has bipartisan support.
The bill would also provide training for law enforcement officials to help them recognize and handle people who may have a mental illness.
The post Northland News Center: Sen. Franken talks mental illness in prisons appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
March 27, 2015
International Falls Journal: EDITORIAL: Change keeps our promise
A decision to expand access to health care for veterans living in rural areas is a huge leap in the right direction.
We expect it will make a difference in the lives of many Koochiching County veterans, as well as other veterans living in rural areas of northern Minnesota and across the nation.
Under the legislation passed in the wake of last year’s VA scandal, a provision was implemented to let veterans who live 40 miles or more from a VA facility to get care from qualified, non-VA providers.
Unfortunately, the 40-mile distance was interpreted as the crow flies, or in a straight line, rather than in driving distance. This failed to take into account the actual distance veterans have to travel to get care.
This week, the VA announced it will calculate eligibility for non-VA care to take into account the driving distance.
The change is expected to be made in the upcoming weeks and will allow many more veterans in Minnesota and across the country to become eligible for non-VA care.
Sen. Al Franken has been leading the push for the change and deserves credit for insisting the common sense change be made. Congressman Rick Nolan also deserves credit for calling attention to this concern.
The post International Falls Journal: EDITORIAL: Change keeps our promise appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
March 23, 2015
WCCO: Man Honored With Purple Heart 48 Years After Sacrifice
Forty eight years after making the ultimate sacrifice, a Minnesota soldier was honored Sunday for his incredible bravery during war.
Specialist Stephen Noggle used his body to shield two fellow medics during an attack in Vietnam. He continued to administer first aid the men until he was hit and killed.
On Sunday, Sen. Al Franken presented Noggle’s family with the Purple Heart, an honor he was awarded in 1962 but his family never received. His family said the honor does much more than give them closure.
The post WCCO: Man Honored With Purple Heart 48 Years After Sacrifice appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
Star Tribune: Old result, new twist: Gophers cut down net after beating Harvard for women’s hockey title
The celebration had become so customary, Brad Frost decided it was time to give it a twist.
The Gophers defeated Harvard 4-1 on Sunday to win their third NCAA women’s hockey title in four years, celebrating the triumph before an announced sellout crowd of 3,400 at Ridder Arena.
Players donned the celebratory T-shirts and hats, just as they had in 2012 and 2013, and then hoisted the trophy to raucous cheers.
The post Star Tribune: Old result, new twist: Gophers cut down net after beating Harvard for women’s hockey title appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
March 11, 2015
Star Tribune: Minneapolis to join in White House tech initiative
Minneapolis is one of 20 communities that have pledged to join a new White House campaign to get more people hired in high-tech jobs.
Mayor Betsy Hodges was scheduled to join President Obama Monday morning as he announced his TechHire initiative at the National League of Cities’ Congressional City Conference in Washington, D.C. The program aims to boost potential employees tech skills through training at colleges, universities and online institutions along with coding bootcamps that provide more intensive instruction.
The White House says more than 500,000 of the 5 million jobs open in the U.S. are in information technology industries, ranging from software development to cyber security. It plans to launch a $100 million competitive grant program for “innovative” strategies that provide workers with training and employment.
The post Star Tribune: Minneapolis to join in White House tech initiative appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
March 5, 2015
The Hill: Who’s tracking you online? Senate Dems want answers
Four Senate Democrats want new rules for advertising companies that track where people go online.
The lawmakers on Thursday introduced legislation that would allow people to get access to and control the files that the companies — known as “data brokers” — keep on them.
“Data brokers seem to believe that there is no such thing as privacy,” Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) said in a statement. “We need to shed light on this ‘shadow’ industry of surreptitious data collection that has amassed covert dossiers on hundreds of millions of Americans.”
The somewhat murky world of data brokers has only recently begun to come to light for many Americans, while their ability to gather information about how people live their lives has increased as more and more activities move online.
The post The Hill: Who’s tracking you online? Senate Dems want answers appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
Star Tribune: Franken calls argument to kill health insurance subsidies ‘ridiculous’
U.S. Sen. Al Franken said opponents of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) raised a “ridiculous” argument at the Supreme Court Wednesday when they told the justices that the nation’s health care reform law does not allow premium-lowering tax credits in 34 states where the federal government runs insurance exchanges.
“I was actually there when the law was written and passed,” Franken told a press conference after the oral arguments. “I know what our intention was.”
It was not, the Minnesota Democrat said, to exclude millions of Americans from health insurance coverage by denying them subsidies needed to afford policies. Franken accused ACA opponents of seizing on a few words in a 2,200-page bill to “reverse engineer” an argument that would kill the entire law.
The health law does say that premium subsidies are available to state-run exchanges. But it also says that the federal government will operate exchanges in states that refuse to form them. Subsidies, mandatory participation and coverage of pre-existing conditions are the three-legs of the legislative stool that support health reform. Getting rid of any of them will undermine the rest, most experts agree.
The post Star Tribune: Franken calls argument to kill health insurance subsidies ‘ridiculous’ appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
March 2, 2015
Lillie News: Al Franken: Sen. Al Franken visits Tartan, praises STEM
“Are you rich now? Are you up to some kind of pyramid scheme?” U.S. Sen. Al Franken asked the two girls at Tartan High School’s student-run credit union branch.
Seniors Hannah Lee and Barkot Berhanu took the former comedian’s quips in stride, staying on message with their explanation of how the credit union is part of a schoolwide focus on financial literacy. Lee listed budgeting, building credit and how to apply for loans as part of the students’ lesson plan.
The post Lillie News: Al Franken: Sen. Al Franken visits Tartan, praises STEM appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.
Al Franken's Blog
- Al Franken's profile
- 651 followers
