Al Franken's Blog, page 61

St. Cloud Times: In St. Cloud stop, Franken talks skills gap with industry, school

Jeff Skumautz gave U.S. Sen. Al Franken a brief tutorial in robotic metalwork Monday afternoon in a workshop at Central McGowan.

Skumautz, president of the St. Cloud-based business that supplies welding and industrial equipment, even presented Franken with a sign emblematic of one of his latest legislative efforts: the Community College to Career Fund Act.

Cut on a computer-programmed machine, it bore Franken’s name and the name of the proposed law in a piece of steel about the size of a large envelope.

Franken, DFL-Minn., met with Skumautz, officials from local manufacturing organizations and St. Cloud Technical & Community College to seek input and support for a bill that last week passed a Senate Labor Committee with a goal of creating partnerships between community colleges and businesses. The association, Franken told a group of about 20 people at Central McGowan, would narrow a skills gap that leaves many manufacturing jobs currently unfilled.

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The post St. Cloud Times: In St. Cloud stop, Franken talks skills gap with industry, school appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

KIMT.com: More Bulletproof Vests for Law Enforcement

Law enforcement agencies all over the country could be benefitting from some new legislation.

U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn.) is co-sponsoring legislation that provides state and local governments in Minnesota and around the country additional funding to purchase body armor for law enforcement.

It would re-authorize the bulletproof vest partnership grant program, which helps local law enforcement agencies purchase body armor for officers.

“When you consider a vest costs anywhere from 1,000 to 1,300 bucks a piece, every 5 years,” Chief Dwaine Winkels of the Albert Lea Police Department Said. “Last year, we replaced eight vests in this department. So, it was over 10,000 dollars we ended up getting through the vest partnership program we participated in.”

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The post KIMT.com: More Bulletproof Vests for Law Enforcement appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Winona Daily News: Al Franken and Tim Walz: End the veterans benefits backlog

By Senator Al Franken and Representative Tim Walz:

The VA reports that 554,105 veterans have been waiting longer than 125 days to have their claim adjudicated. This is unacceptable, and VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, a retired U.S. Army General who has dedicated his life to military service and taking care of our brave warriors, agrees. While the VA is currently making progress, we believe that there are commonsense measures Congress can undertake to bolster the VA’s efforts to ensure our veterans are getting the care they need in a more-timely manner.

In response to Minnesota veterans and veterans’ organizations who have told us about the hardships the VA backlog imposes on veterans, we introduced legislation to help speed up the process.

We have introduced identical bipartisan measures in the House and Senate known as the “Quicker Benefits Delivery Act” that will remove several hurdles to getting claims processed quickly. Our legislation also ensures that disabled veterans can get at least some help and support while their claims are still being adjudicated.

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The post Winona Daily News: Al Franken and Tim Walz: End the veterans benefits backlog appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

CNN: We need transparency on domestic surveillance

By Senator Al Franken:

Since I came to the Senate, I’ve been working to fix this. I’ve supported amendments to the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that would have required greater public reporting on the use of surveillance authorities and greater disclosures about the legal opinions and safeguards that support them. When those amendments failed, I voted against renewing both of these laws.

I want to be clear: I didn’t vote “no” because I wanted to end these programs or because I thought they were unnecessary. Based on briefings, I believe these programs protect our country and have saved lives and have reasonable safeguards in place to protect Americans’ privacy. I voted the way I did because I wanted to send a loud signal to my colleagues that transparency was critical and that there was too little of it in place. National security laws must protect national security. But they must also protect the public trust and preserve the ability of an informed electorate to hold its government to account.

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The post CNN: We need transparency on domestic surveillance appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

The Rachel Maddow Show: Sen. Al Franken on the 80/20 rule and publicizing the Affordable Care Act

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Al’s health reform provision is putting money back in the pockets of Americans. Watch Al discuss his contribution to #ObamaCare on @maddow.

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The post The Rachel Maddow Show: Sen. Al Franken on the 80/20 rule and publicizing the Affordable Care Act appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Star Tribune: Obama extols Franken provision in Obamacare

With his signature health care law under attack, President Obama used the White House podium Thursday to extol a provision authored by U.S. Sen. Al Franken, D-Minn., that he said has already paid dividends to millions of Americans.

The so-called Medical Loss Ratio, has been credited with putting money back into the pockets of over 8.5 million Americans by requiring that health insurers spend at least 80 percent of premium dollars on actual health services, as opposed to administrative overhead.

Obama said the provision has lowered premiums and provided rebates averaging $100 each. Much of that money, however, goes to employers who provide insurance.

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The post Star Tribune: Obama extols Franken provision in Obamacare appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Grand Forks Herald: Al Franken: Measure aims to end veterans benefits’ backlog

By Senator Al Franken:

Unfortunately, our troops’ battles don’t always end when they return home. In the past few weeks, I’ve heard from many veterans from the Grand Forks area and across the state who have returned bearing the scars of war — mental and physical disabilities incurred while protecting our freedoms.

All they expect in return for their service is that our nation keeps its promises to them.

With the end of the war in Iraq and the drawdown of troops in Afghanistan, the number of disabled veterans who need care is increasing exponentially. Despite the fact that the Department of Veterans Affairs is processing more claims today than at any time in history, veterans are waiting too long to get the benefits they have earned, creating an unnecessary financial hardship for veterans and their families.

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The post Grand Forks Herald: Al Franken: Measure aims to end veterans benefits’ backlog appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Star Tribune: Sen. Al Franken pushes bill to end job skills gap

A bill pitched by U.S. Sen. Al Franken this week could bridge the job skills gap and give students the training, tuition and real-world internships needed to fill 3.5 million job openings, Franken said Thursday.

“I’ve sat down with far too many businesses across Minnesota that have job openings they can’t fill because they can’t find workers with the right skills,” Franken said during a conference call with Fridley business owner and well-known job trainer Erick Ajax.

The answer to the skills gap — which affects a third of all manufacturers — lies in “the successful partnerships I’ve seen in Minnesota, where businesses and community colleges come together to train the workers they need,” Franken said. “I know [this] is a common-sense way to solve this problem and get people to work, which is why I’m introducing this bill.”

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The post Star Tribune: Sen. Al Franken pushes bill to end job skills gap appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

San Francisco Chronicle: Franken has $3M in reserve for Minn. Senate race

Democratic Sen. Al Franken has added significantly to his campaign stockpile in the last three months, leaving him with $3 million in reserve as the 2014 Minnesota Senate race takes shape.

Franken reported April-to-June figures on Thursday, during which he says he raised nearly $2 million. It is similar to his haul for the first three months of 2013. His available cash accounts for what’s left after campaign expenses.

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The post San Francisco Chronicle: Franken has $3M in reserve for Minn. Senate race appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.

Winona Daily News: Our View: Closing the gap

Classwork and homework is a strong foundation, but it’s no longer enough. Students need real-world experience and networking opportunities through internships, on-the-job training, and other initiatives that create funnels directly to good jobs after graduation.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken deserves praise for seeing that, and working to help out.

The Minnesota Democrat plans to introduce a proposal this month that would let colleges and universities apply for grants to fund new community collaborations to close the so-called skills gap — the problems some companies have in finding workers with adequate training. Priority would be given to those that address the sectors of greatest need, like health care, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, and information technology.

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The post Winona Daily News: Our View: Closing the gap appeared first on U.S. Senator Al Franken, Minnesota -- Official Campaign Website.