Prince William County School Board members have scheduled seven Town Hall Meetings on the budget process March 3-9. Three of the meetings are on Monday, March 6 and two of the meetings are on Tuesday, March 7. The meeting dates, times, locations and hosts are noted below.

Governor Terry McAuliffe Feb.. 24 announced more than 2,000 Norfolk and Portsmouth residents will receive financial assistance for Elizabeth River Tunnels tolls beginning Wednesday, March 1, 2017. Toll Relief, the first program of its kind in the nation, offers a 75-cent per trip refund to qualified Norfolk and Portsmouth residents who frequently travel through the Downtown and Midtown tunnels.

Prince William County Planning Commission will hold a work session on March 1, 2017 at 6 p.m. in the Potomac Conference Room of the McCoart Government Center at 1 County Complex Ct., Woodbridge, VA. 22192. The work session will cover: Proposed Capital Improvemenbt Program Presentations, among six agenda items.

A work session on the 2017=18 proposed school budget previously scheduled for March 2 has been cancelled. School Board Chairman Ryan Sawyers will hold two Town Hall meetings on the budget, Friday, March 3, 6:30–8 p.m. at Mullen Elementary School and Monday, March 6, 6:30–8 p.m. at Forest Park High School.

We are now one week away from the scheduled end of the 2017 45-day legislative session of the Virginia General Assembly. We are finishing our committee work, reviewing amendments from the Senate, and working on the budget.

Del. Eileen Filler-Corn’s bill to allow women to obtain a year’s supply of birth control pills at one time, passed the House on February 7th, cleared the Senate Feb. 16 and will be sent to the Governor’s desk. HB 2267 will require health insurance plans that cover contraceptives to allow women to purchase a year’s supply of birth control pills at one time.

The General Assembly Building in Richmond will be torn down this year and replaced by 2022. In the meantime, the General Assembly offices will be moved down the hill to the Pocahontas Building, which sits at the foot of Capitol Hill, about 150 yards from the current location.

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, released a statement after the Senate voted 51-49 to confirm Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) to serve as the next Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). See below.