This week, U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine will travel to the Shenandoah Valley, Southwest Virginia, and Charlottesville to discuss job training, education, and the opioid crisis.
Kaine’s role on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee gives him a platform to carry the conversations he has around the Commonwealth with him as he works to reform America’s education system, improve health care, and strengthen the economy.
On Thursday in Fishersville, Kaine will join local leaders to discuss workforce development and local business apprenticeships. As a founder and co-chair of the Senate Career and Technical Education (CTE) Caucus, Kaine has championed legislation — including bills that have become law — to expand students’ access to high-quality CTE programs and help prepare American workers for jobs in the modern economy.
In Wytheville, Kaine will visit Wytheville Community College to hold a roundtable discussion on the upcoming reauthorization of the Higher Education Act(HEA) with leaders from Southwest Virginia’s colleges and universities. As a member of the HELP Committee, Kaine is working to ensure the HEA better meets the needs of Virginia’s students. As the HELP Committee rewrites the HEA, Senator Kaine is working to include his bipartisan bill – called the JOBS Act– to help workers access Pell Grants for job training for in-demand career fields.
In Wise County, Kaine will meet with CEO of Carbon Research and Development Co. Steve Hooper to tour a research facility and learn more about the company’s work to turn coal into graphene for industrial use and bring jobs to the region. Later in the day, Kaine will visit Sugar Hill Brewing Company to sit down with local leaders from Russell and Wise Counties.
On Friday in Lebanon, Kaine will hold a roundtable discussion with Virginia health care professionals on the comprehensive opioid legislation that was signed into law last year and current efforts underway to combat the opioid crisis in the region. The final legislation included proposals from three of Kaine’s bills to give states the resources to ensure recovery homes are effectively helping residents sustain recovery from opioid and substance use disorders, incorporate job training into drug addiction recovery programs, and allow schools to apply for grants to directly offer trauma support services to students impacted by the opioid epidemic.
In Abingdon, Kaine will visit the Student and Community Career Fair at Virginia Highlands Community College, where 40 local employers will recruit for over 1,000 job openings. At the job fair, Kaine will speak with prospective employees and employers. Later, he will attend a Washington County Drug Court graduation ceremony. Kaine has long been an advocate of drug courts and believes they are one of the most effective tools in combatting drug abuse and reducing recidivism.
In Pulaski, Kaine will tour an economic revitalization project with President of MOVA Technologies and 2018 Roanoke-Blacksburg Technology Council Entrepreneur of the Year Steve Critchfield and local officials.
In Blacksburg, Kaine will meet with Virginia Tech student leaders to discuss financial aid, campus safety, and other issues affecting students.
On Saturday in Charlottesville, Kaine will meet with students from the University of Virginia to discuss policies being debated in Congress.
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