As per the Loudoun Times Mirror:

Sen. Mark Herring (D-Loudoun and Fairfax) will participate in several town hall meetings across the 33rd district in advance of the 2011 General Assembly session.  The town hall meetings will provide constituents with the opportunity to engage directly with Herring about the issues facing the district and the Commonwealth. The senator also will outline his legislative agenda for the upcoming session.

The schedule is as follows:

•  Jan. 6, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.,  Loudoun County Government Center, 1 Harrison St. SE, Leesburg. Herring and members of the Loudoun County delegation will participate.

•  Jan. 8, 3 p.m. to 4 p.m.,   Cascades Library, 21030 Whitfield Place, Potomac Falls. Herring and Del. Thomas “Tag” Greason (R-northeastern Loudoun) will participate.

•  Jan. 15th, 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., Sterling Community Center, 120 Enterprise St.,  Sterling. Herring and Del. Tom Rust (R-Sterling) will participate.

Also, the good Senator will be holding a public meeting at 7 PM on Monday, January 3, 2011 at Potomac Falls High School regarding SB 745, a bill he has patroned in the upcoming General Assembly session regarding “synthetic marijuana”. This bill would classify synthetic marijuana as a Schedule 1 controlled substance, and possession would carry the same penalties as regular marijuana.Synthetic marijuana is sold under the guise of incense, although it is sprayed with THC, the main psychoactive substance in cannabis. Senator Herring’s public meeting will focus on the side effects of the drug and what Loudoun County is doing to combat the problem.

Senator Herring will also be sponsoring legislation creating a Research and Development Tax Credit for science and technology. According to his Facebook page,

Continuing my work in the area of Science & Technology-based Economic Development, I’ll be sponsoring legislation creating a Research & Development Tax Credit in Virginia. Currently, Virginia is one of only 12 states that do not offer and R&D Tax Credit. This legislation will be the top priority of the Virginia Biotechnology Association, and will help make Virginia more competitive to attract and grow the jobs of the commonwealth

Lastly, Senator Herring will also be re-introducing legislation to “criminalize financial scams against elderly and disabled people”. This legislation was passed over in last year’s General Assembly session.

We should be proud to have such a fine public servant such as Mark Herring representing us in Richmond. Rest assured, we will work hard to ensure his re-election in November so that he may continue doing good deeds for not only Loudoun County, but for the entire Commonwealth.