See what’s happening in government relations this week in our News You Can Use Video Digest. Enjoy!

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned the 2017 regular session sine die on March 29, 2017, days before its anticipated adjournment date of April 2.

Gov. Phil Bryant is, however, expected to call a special session before July 1, the date a new budget is needed for the next fiscal year.

The House and Senate reached a stalemate over infrastructure funding and an internet sales tax. Gov. Bryant said he would call the special session when lawmakers reach an agreement.

The Idaho Legislature adjourned the 2017 regular session sine die on March 29, 2017.

Major issues of this year’s session included proposed income tax cuts and funding for public schools.

A handful of legislators will work through the interim on updating the state’s public school funding formula. Many argue it is outdated and does not meet the needs of a modern education.

The Billings City Council unanimously voted this week to repeal the city’s ethics ordinance and dismiss the Board of Ethics. In place of the Board of Ethics, the Yellowstone County Attorney will oversee the city’s ethics complaints.

The city says it will use already existing state ethics standards and enforcement procedures currently being used in Helena and Great Falls.

The current and now nonoperational Ethics Board asked to remain in place, believing they are better trained to handle ethics complaints and are more available to the city’s population to report ethics violations.

Under the newly repealed ethics ordinance, the city attorney was not able to review ethics complaints against city council members, so a separate private attorney was hired, something City Council was aiming to change.

The new ethics provisions are set to become effective at the end of April.

State and Federal Communications is excited to be at the 2017 SGAC National Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana.

President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz , Director of Operations Amber Fish Linke, and Client Specialist Nola Werren are attending this year’s event, where attendees will discuss how “Managing State Government Affairs is BIG but NEVER EASY”

You can see the agenda here, and follow the conversations on Twitter with the hashtag #NSSGAC.

The executive director of Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission, Evelyn Fielding Lopez, announced her plan to leave her position in May.

Lopez was appointed in October 2015 and faced calls for her resignation from Republican leaders in 2016 alleging bias in favor of Democrats.

The Commission appointed Barbara “BG” Sandahl as the agency’s new assistant director.

The appointment of the next executive director is expected to be made soon.

On March 27, the West Virginia Senate voted to approve a bill to overhaul campaign finance laws.

Senate Bill 539 will raise campaign contribution limits to allow individuals to donate up to $2,700 to candidates for statewide office per election cycle. Individuals would also be able to contribute up to $5,000 to PACs per year and $10,000 to state parties and caucus campaign committees per year.

The bill also proposes changes to disclosure requirements, allowing citizens to donate up to $1,000 to certain PACs that do not donate to individual candidates or their committees before the donor’s identity must be disclosed.

The bill now moves to the House for consideration.

Despite the 2017 regular session adjourning on March 18th, Gov. Susana Martinez will likely call a special session.

Martinez does not like the budget proposed to her by the Legislature and has warned of potential furloughs if a new budget is not passed soon.

The special session date has yet to be determined.

Wisconsin legislators introduced a bill to prohibit lawmakers from lobbying for at least one year after leaving legislative office.

The bill, identical to a bill proposed during the last legislative session, was introduced with wide bipartisan support.

Current state law establishes a revolving door provision for state employees and officials seeking to become lobbyists; the prohibition does not, however, extend to legislators.

Chuck Harris is retiring as the executive director and general counsel of the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission (ILRC).

Harris has served as the executive director and general counsel of the ILRC since January 2011.

Harris will retire at the end of May 2017.

On March 19, U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin introduced a bill to close a campaign finance loophole allowing foreign-owned, foreign-controlled, and foreign-influenced corporations to indirectly participate in U.S. elections.

H.R. 1615, the Get Foreign Money Out of U.S. Elections Act, amends the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to expand the ban on contributions and expenditures by foreign nationals under the Act to foreign-controlled, foreign-influenced, and foreign-owned domestic corporations.

In his press release, Raskin, a constitutional law professor, said, “The problem is that domestically registered corporations can be taken-over, bought-up, controlled, or influenced by foreign corporations and foreign nationals, and this means foreign powers have an easy and perfectly lawful way to funnel foreign money into American elections.” Upon introduction, the bill was referred to the House Administration committee.

Despite an ongoing court battle, a special election has been scheduled for April 8, 2017, to fill a seat in the territory’s unicameral legislature.

Kevin Rodriguez placed sixth in the November election, however, the Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands determined he was ineligible to hold a seat because he does not meet the residency requirement. Rodriguez filed another suit in the District Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands, but the court left the decision to the governor.

Rodriguez has appealed the ruling to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and asked the St. Thomas Board of Election to postpone the special election until a decision is reached. The Board of Election, however, plans to move forward.

A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives earlier this month would prohibit the use of taxpayer funds to pay for food, lodging, or other expenses at hotels owned or operated by any U.S. president.

House Bill 1452, the “No Taxpayer Revenue Used to Monetize the Presidency Act of 2017,” or the “No TRUMP Act of 2017,” also prohibits any payment for lodging and other travel expenses by the federal government at hotels owned or operated by a president’s relatives.

In his introductory remarks, the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, clearly specified President Trump was the target of the legislation: “Hardly a week goes by without reports of taxpayer-funded trips by the president or his family to one of his family-owned properties throughout the world. These excesses have surpassed anything that this nation has seen before, and this unprecedented abuse of taxpayer dollars demands an additional ethical check on the office of the presidency.”

On Wednesday, Dallas City Council voted unanimously to overhaul the city’s ethics laws after months of work to tighten rules on lobbying and reduce political influence in City Hall.

Among other things, the new ethics rules bar successful campaign managers from lobbying city officials for one year after a campaign, require association leaders as well as attorneys and law firms representing clients to register as lobbyists, lower the gift disclosure threshold from $500 to $250, and broaden the scope of those covered by the law to include city board and commission appointees.

The ordinance will take effect July 1, 2017.