Jennifer Carroll Foy releases plan to boost rural Virginia communities

Jennifer Carroll Foy has released a plan to uplift and invest in rural communities across Virginia.

The plan from Carroll Foy, a candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for governor, prioritizes key investments to tackle infrastructure needs in rural Virginia, from transportation, healthcare, education, broadband, and more.

Carroll Foy is pledging to secure funding to make upgrades along the I-81 corridor, address critical school construction needs by reforming the outdated Local Composite Index, bring mobile health clinics to localities across Virginia, and more to bring opportunity and attract and retain diverse, high-paying jobs in rural Virginia.

“I’ve sat in classrooms that lacked the resources we needed, and saw jobs leave and despair creep into my hometown. And while the challenges Petersburg faces are not one and the same with the challenges rural Virginians face, I know that the feeling of being overlooked is all too familiar for so many Virginians,” Carroll Foy said. “For too long, rural Virginians have been left out and left behind by the broken status quo. As Governor, I’ll fight to uplift every part of this Commonwealth. My plan ensures rural Virginians have an equal shot at securing a job with high wages and good benefits, quality healthcare, a first-class public school education, and more so that every Virginian has the opportunity to thrive.

Key highlights of her plan include:

• Ensure 97 percent of Virginians will have access to high speed internet by the end of her administration.
• Investing in mobile health clinics to help provide care for the most vulnerable Virginians – people who suffer from mental illness, substance abuse, homeless populations, and rural communities.
• Address critical school construction needs by making necessary reforms to the outdated Local Composite Index to ensure that high-risk students, their teachers, and their schools are getting the resources they need.
• Assemble an extensive, strategic, and robust portfolio of project-ready sites and buildings across Virginia with a special focus on Virginia’s rural and distressed area.
• Secure the funding needed to complete the remaining infrastructure projects and upgrades along the I-81 corridor, make additional investments to Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and continue the implementation of Governor Northam’s Transforming Rail in Virginia initiative, and support the New River Valley Passenger Station Authority and allocate funding towards the creation of a rail line to Christiansburg.
• Continue supporting the Virginia Initiative for Growth & Opportunity (GO Virginia), which awards grants based on population for regional and statewide projects. These projects foster collaboration among business, education, and government, to effectively expand economic development in key regional priorities.
• Reduce statutory restrictions on specialty dockets (i.e. Drug Courts, Mental Health, and Veterans dockets) and ensure greater funding for treatment services, including trauma-informed counseling.