Will a VP Kaine Help Americans Move Up?

Virginia governor, Tim Kaine, remains at the top of many VP short lists because of his potential to deliver his red state to the Democrats and because of the similar political philosophy he shares with Barack Obama. Yesterday’s New York Times profile of Gov. Kaine offers some of his biographical highlights. Continuing on with the Vice President series, let’s take a closer look at his legislative record to see what causes he may champion in a new administration.

Gov. Tim Kaine (D-VA)

As a former Catholic missionary, Kaine approaches his work from a deep commitment to his faith and a call to serve the most vulnerable of society. During his almost-three years as governor, Kaine has been an advocate for Virginia’s children. For example, under his tenure, the Commonwealth has committed to invest $43.9 million to improve the foster care system. This money will be used to increase the number of new foster families; utilize new technology and hire more foster care specialists; increase foster care payment rates; and establish more training for foster and adoption workers.

In 2007, Kaine announced his Strong Start Initiative, which will eventually lead to high-quality pre-K for 30,000 additional at-risk four-year-olds in the Commonwealth. Kaine hopes that by 2012, 67% of four-year-olds in Virginia will be enrolled in high-quality preschool. He has committed to not just expand pre-K opportunities, but to ensure that these programs are of the highest quality. In his speech to the Joint Meeting of the Senate Finance, House Finance and House Appropriations Committees, he said:

Research shows us that preschool is only really effective when it is high-quality. To ensure that what we offer through the expanded VPI program is high-quality, I have provided funding for the Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS). This system will measure and assign a quality rating from one to five stars to any program, public or private, that receives state pre-k funds. Private preschool programs can also receive a QRIS rating, offering parents more information about these programs and encouraging quality improvement in all of Virginia’s preschools.

In the aftermath of the tragic Virginia Tech shootings, Kaine led the effort for better mental health services in the state. In April, he signed the Omnibus Mental Health bill, which included a comprehensive overhaul of Virginia’s mental health system.

Kaine has also spearheaded numerous initiatives to utilize the power of broadband to bring services and jobs to people throughout the entire state. He set a state-wide goal of having broadband access to all businesses by 2010 and created of the Office of Telework Promotion and Broadband Assistance to facilitate this goal and promote telework opportunities for public and private employees.

Kaine has effectively produced results that help the vulnerable population in his state during his relatively short tenure as governor. It should also be noted that he accomplished this during major state budget cuts - a much needed skill for the administration that is about to inherit Bush’s fiscal mess.