Just two weeks on the job and Tina Smith is already playing partisan games with the popular children’s health insurance program (CHIP), and putting Minnesota jobs at risk by voting against a delay in the medical device tax.
Smith announced this afternoon that she will be joining fellow Washington liberals and voting against the continuing resolution which funds the government, provides a six-year CHIP extension and two-year delay on the medical device tax. In the process, she will be endangering health care for Minnesota children, risking funding for troops and jeopardizing the jobs of 35,000 employees who work for the more than 700 medical device companies based in Minnesota.
“Smith’s decision to shut down the federal government, tax Minnesota manufacturers and end the children’s health insurance program will have devastating effects on Minnesotans,” said NRSC Spokesman Michael McAdams. “Funding the government is an elected official’s most basic duty, and with her actions today, Smith’s shown she is unable to deliver for Minnesota voters.”