COLUMBIA, S.C. — Vice-President Kamala Harris is visiting Columbia today to discuss ways to expand affordable high-speed internet.
The White House confirmed last week that Harris will come to the city on February 27. Further details on when and where she would speak, and who may be joining her during her visit, were not immediately available.
The news came on the same day that U.S. Rep. James Clyburn and South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced a program called GetConnectedSC. The goal of it is to help bring more reliable, high speed internet to everyone across the state.
South Carolina ranks 27th in the nation in broadband access. Across the state, 137,000 households don't have internet.
Harris was last in the Midlands in September when she addressed students at South Carolina State University in Orangeburg. She was in Columbia last June to speak at the Blue Palmetto Dinner, a Democratic fundraising event.
Harris also had spent time in the state in 2019 as she was running for the Democratic nomination for president. She withdrew from the race in December of that year so she was not on the ballot for the February 2020 primary.