Gov. John Bel Edwards plans to issue a call this week to bring the Louisiana Legislature into a special session to try and close the state’s $304 million deficit.

The special legislative session will run from February 13 to February 23, 2017, but could wrap up earlier if a solution is reached. Edwards met with the joint House and Senate budget committees last Friday and faces no direct challenges to his plan.

He is in favor of using the state’s rainy day fund to bridge the budget gap and has stated there will be no proposals to do so by raising fees and taxes. However, no specifics on where cuts are intended have been announced.

An official list of proposed cuts is to be announced February 6, 2017.

On January 28, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order mandating ethic commitments for executive branch appointees. Appointees are prohibited from accepting gifts, with limited exceptions, from registered lobbyists and lobbying organizations for the duration of their service as appointees.

Appointees are also prohibited from lobbying the agency they were appointed to serve for five years after leaving office. They are also prohibited from engaging on behalf of any foreign government or foreign political party if it would require them to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Additionally, registered lobbyists appointed to an executive agency cannot participate in matters in which they lobbied for two years after the date of their appointment.

This new Executive Order supersedes and revokes a similar Executive Order signed by former President Barack Obama in 2009.

Public Affairs Council Advocacy Conference, here we come! We can’t wait to see everyone. If you’ll be attending, come on by and say hello at our Resource Marketplace Booth.

The Commonwealth’s new treasurer, Joseph Torsella, banned the use middlemen to assist in connecting investment houses with public agencies.

Torsella, in his first act after being sworn in, issued a policy directive banning the continued or future use of placement agent agreements for contractors entrusted with the investment of public funds.

These placement agents are typically paid a finder’s fee for obtaining business for the investment house. Placement agents are also used to circumvent a federal pay-to-play law prohibiting investment houses from giving campaign donations.

Last year, former treasurer Pat McCord was embroiled in a bribery scandal with one such placement agent. Richard Ireland, a wealthy Chester County resident, is accused of offering McCord $500,000 in campaign donations in exchange for using his clients for investing.

A special election has been set for May 6, 2017, to fill the vacant seat for the Mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas.

Dan McQueen, former mayor, resigned on January 18 after just 37 days in office. His resignation came after being the subject of intense media scrutiny for criticizing city council and local media members on social media.

During such time, it was revealed that McQueen, who had no previous experience with public office, hired his live-in girlfriend as his chief of staff without disclosure to the city manager in direct conflict with the city’s policies.

Since McQueen’s resignation seven candidates have entered the mayoral race, including the City’s current Ethics Commissioner, Larry White.

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

Special elections have been scheduled for Missouri House District 50 and Senate District 28.

Both elections are scheduled for August 8, 2017. The House seat was left vacant when Rep. Caleb Jones stepped down to take a position in Gov. Eric Greitens’ administration.

Senator Mike Parson vacated his Senate seat on January 9 after becoming lieutenant governor.

Lobbying

Florida: “Lee Clerk Wants Audit of County Lobby Logs” by Patricia Borns for The News-Press

Pennsylvania: “Governor Fires Head of State Drug and Alcohol Office” by Angela Couloumbis and Karen Langley for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Texas: “Once-Dead Ethics Reforms Could Curb Lobbying Tricks, Increase Disclosures and Punish Criminal Lawmakers” by J. David McSwane for Dallas News

Campaign Finance

California: “Contra Costa DA Slapped with $45,000 Fine as Criticism Builds” by Nate Gartrell for East Bay Times

Ethics

“An Early Test of Trump’s Ethics Pledge Is a Glittering New Foreign Tower” by Drew Harwell, Alan Freeman, and Jenny Peng for Washington Post

“White House, Trump Organization Name Ethics Advisers” by Bernard Condon and Chad Day (Associated Press) for WRAL

Utah: “Utah House Speaker Greg Hughes’ Name Dragged into the Criminal Case of Former A.G. John Swallow” by Jennifer Dobner and Tom Harvey for Salt Lake Tribune

Elections

“Trump Seeks ‘Major Investigation’ into Unsupported Claims of Voter Fraud” by Jenna Johnson and Matt Zapotosky for Washington Post

Legislative Issues

Nebraska: “Nebraska Lawmaker Quits After Unsavory Women’s March Tweet” by Grant Schulte (Associated Press) for ABC News

South Carolina: “South Carolina Lawmaker Accused of Beating His Wife Resigns” by Seanna Adcox (Associated Press) for ABC News

A state Senate special election for the 10th District seat will be held on February 25, 2017.

Democrat Bethany Hall-Long vacated the seat on January 17, 2017, in order to be sworn in as lieutenant governor.

The outcome of the special election will determine the controlling party in the Senate. Democrat Stephanie Hansen and Republican John Marino are both vying for the seat.

Photo of Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long from the Delaware General Assembly website.

After months of scandal, state Sen. Bill Kintner resigned from the Nebraska Legislature today. Kintner’s announcement comes just hours before a resolution to expel him was expected to be brought to the floor.

Problems for Kintner began last year when it was discovered he used his state-provided laptop to engage in cybersex. He evaded pressure to step down only to face further criticism this week for retweeting a post implying participants at the Women’s March were too unattractive to be sexually assaulted.

Kintner’s resignation is effective January 30 and a special election to fill his seat has yet to be announced.

Photo of Sen. Bill Kintner courtesy of the Nebraska Legislature website.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo tackled several issues at his recent State of the State Address.

Cuomo acknowledged the corruption at all levels of government, and proposed plans for a full-time Legislature, term limits for elected officials, an increase to the inspector general’s powers, and a strategy to limit campaign contributions from major companies.

Additionally, he also intends to appoint a new chief procurement officer, require public funding for elections, and recruit new inspectors for the State Education Department and the Port Authority.

Gov. Cuomo also acknowledged the success of all of his proposed bills and amendments depend on the public’s currently deteriorating trust in New York’s leaders.

On January 20, Gov. Jay Nixon announced the special election in House District 50 has been scheduled for August 8, 2017.

House District 50 includes sections of Boone Cole County and parts of Moniteau County.

A special election has yet to be scheduled for the Senate District 28 seat, which was recently vacated by Lt. Gov. Mike Parson.

A joint committee of the South Dakota Legislature voted Monday to send House Bill 1069 to a full chamber debate in an attempt to repeal Initiated Measure 22.

Initiated Measure 22 is the voter approved ethics and campaign finance overhaul that established various lobbying and campaign finance restrictions.

The bill contains an emergency clause to avoid the possibility of voters proposing a referendum to reverse a repeal.

Speaker of the House Mike Turzai announced a special election will be held March 21, 2017, to fill a vacancy in House District 197.

The vacancy was created on January 3 when Rep. Leslie Acosta resigned after pleading guilty to federal money laundering charges. Party nominees to run in the special election will be selected according to each party’s respective process.

District 197 consists of part of North Philadelphia.