Press Releases

~ Funds can be used by Virginia Department of Health to better evaluate outbreak and implement response measures ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $14,857,347 in federal funding to strengthen the Commonwealth’s response to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The funding, awarded through the Epidemiology and Laboratory Capacity for Prevention and Control of Emerging Infectious Diseases (ELC) cooperative agreement...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) announced $200,000 in federal funding to support a project by the Molecular Sciences Software Institute (MolSSI) at Virginia Tech that seeks to help the global computational molecular sciences community quickly provide their scientific data and expertise to address the COVID-19 crisis. The funding, awarded through the National Science Foundation (NSF), was made possible by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic...Continue Reading

~ Inclusion in Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program would help fight food insecurity for children during health crisis ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) urging swift approval of Virginia’s request to operate a Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) program that would ensure that children in Virginia continue to have access to healthy and nutritious foods&...Continue Reading

~ Treasury announcement gave families less than 48 hours’ notice to enter additional information needed to receive $500 COVID-19 payment per child ~ WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Cory Booker (D-NJ) and 34 of their Senate colleagues calling on the U.S. Treasury Department to ensure that families who are not normally required to file taxes &n...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded $1,854,974 in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to assist the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) in supporting rural hospitals across the Commonwealth as they combat the COVID-19 crisis. The federal funding was made possible through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, which allocated $150 million t...Continue Reading

Watch his video announcing the contest here. WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine launched the “Everybody’s the Graduation Speaker” video contest. With many in-person graduations likely to be postponed or canceled due to the coronavirus, Kaine is encouraging Virginia’s graduating high school seniors to submit a video of an original speech they would like to give at graduation. Kaine will select speeches to feature on his Facebook page and website during ...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined Senator Tammy Baldwin to introduce legislation to protect U.S. workers from COVID-19 in response to disturbing, widespread reports of unsafe workplaces leading to preventable illnesses and deaths. The COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act would require the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to issue an Emergency Temporary Standard that establishes a legal obligation for all workplaces to implement comprehensive inf...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. –U.S. Senator Tim Kaine joined more than 20 of his colleagues in a letter, led by Senators Jeff Merkley and Richard Blumenthal, pressing Senate leadership to include critical workforce development and career and technical education (CTE) funding in the next coronavirus relief bill. The letter comes as nearly 22 million workers filed for unemployment in the course of a month and as the economy shed nearly all of the jobs gained over the past five years.  “Althoug...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine released the following statement after the Senate unanimously approved a bipartisan coronavirus relief package that provides $310 billion for the Paycheck Protection Program (including $60 billion for women-owned businesses, minority-owned businesses, and businesses in rural communities), $60 billion for Economic Injury Disaster Loans, $75 billion for health care providers, and $25 billion for testing. “This legislation wi...Continue Reading

~ Alarming media reports highlight many VA staff are working without PPE, penalized for following health guidance from public health authorities ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Michael Bennet (D-CO), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Jack Reed (D-RI) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pushing for more information regarding the personal protective equipment (PPE) available to its employees at hospitals, clinics and other...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined 30 of their colleagues to call for state, local, and tribal governments to receive dedicated, flexible funding in the next COVID-19 emergency funding package. While Virginia has received $3.3 billion to support its COVID-19 response, the Senators are pushing for the next emergency coronavirus relief package to provide assurances that funding can be used to prevent potentially devastating budget cuts and that locali...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Following concerns about worker safety in Virginia, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Tammy Baldwin and 32 of their Senate colleagues in a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer calling for any future coronavirus response legislation to include a requirement that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issue an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to guarantee protections for all essenti...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine and Angus King led 18 of their colleagues in a letter to Senate leadership to call for increased investments in mental and behavioral health in future COVID-19 relief legislation. Reports have shown Americans are experiencing negative effects on their mental health due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Senators highlighted the threat COVID-19 poses to several particularly vulnerable populations, including people in marginalized communities w...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined Senator Elizabeth Warren to introduce the bicameral Equitable Data Collection and Disclosure on COVID-19 Act. The bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to collect and report racial and other demographic data on COVID-19 testing, treatment, and fatality rates, and provide a summary of the final statistics and a report to Congress within 60 days after the end of the public health emergency. It ...Continue Reading

~ First half of higher education funding under CARES Act will cover basic essentials for Virginia students during the health crisis ~ WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded more than $156 million in federal funding through the U.S. Department of Education to support Virginia students. The federal funding was made possible through the Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund established under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) applauded $309,729,392 in federal funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide economic relief to 47 airports across the Commonwealth.  “The COVID-19 crisis has affected every aspect of our economy and our airports are no exception. In fact, the necessary precautions we have taken to slow the spread of the virus have hit our airports especially hard,” said...Continue Reading

~ Program aims to reduce food insecurity during health crisis by allowing SNAP recipients to order groceries online ~ WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) urging for swift approval of Virginia’s request to participate in the agency’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Online Purchasing Pilot Program. This program allows SNAP recipients to use their benefits to purchase it...Continue Reading

~ Press Coronavirus Task Force for plan to address testing shortfalls ~ WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA) joined Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) and 43 other Senators in calling on the Coronavirus Task Force and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to conduct a national inventory of the coronavirus (COVID-19) diagnostic testing supply, publicly release data on testing results, and provide a detailed plan and timeline for addressing future shortages and gaps ...Continue Reading

Senators warn that instances of domestic violence and sexual assault are likely to increase as a result of stay-at-home orders—and request that any future legislation to address the ongoing coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) provides funding to support victims and survivors, including through programs authorized by the Violence Against Women Act WASHINGTON, D.C.  – Today, U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner and Tim Kaine joined a bipartisan group of more than 30 colleagues to request that...Continue Reading

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Tim Kaine released the following statement after Governor Northam signed into law several gun violence prevention measures: “These commonsense reforms are an enormous achievement that will make Virginia communities safer. We have seen the scourge of gun violence in the tragedies of Virginia Tech and Virginia Beach and the all too common shootings in our cities and towns. As elected officials, it’s our responsibility to learn painful lesson...Continue Reading