Gov. Terry McAuliffe proposed two new pieces of legislation for the 2017 General Assembly at Tidewater Community College Friday.
The legislation seeks to improve the lives and opportunities of military veterans and their families across the Commonwealth, which is home to more than 800,000 former service members.
The first package aims to encourage entrepreneurship among veterans through a $900,000 grant fund and the implementation of a two-year pilot program. The program will help veterans establish their own businesses in high-demand fields like IT, cybersecurity, health care, and agriculture.
“I want Virginia to be designated as the best place for veterans to start a business,” McAuliffe said.
The second piece of legislation focuses on enhancing care for the 73,000 children of Virginia’s military families by improving collaboration among civilian and military agencies. The legislation would require child welfare agencies share a child’s military affiliation with military authorities.
In addition to the new legislation, McAuliffe has helped spearhead several veteran-related initiatives during his tenure, including the V3 “Virginia Values Veterans” program, which has helped more than 30,000 military veterans across the state find employment, according to McAuliffe.
“We’ve added more veterans to our workforce than all other 49 states combined. There’s no other governor in the United States that can say that,” he said. “We want every single person who leaves active duty to stay in the Commonwealth.”
Pohl may be reached at [email protected]
