Maine Governor Postpones Primary Until July

To mitigate the spread of COVID-19 due to in-person voting, Gov. Janet Mills issued Executive Order 39.

Executive Order 39 postpones the primary from June 9 to Tuesday, July 14.

The order also allows applications for absentee ballots to be made in writing or in person up to and including the day of the election without specifying a reason.

The new application process permits voters to obtain and return the absentee ballot before the polls close on July 14.

On April 8, legislative leaders announced the General Assembly is extending the postponement of the session until April 23.

The State Capitol, Legislative Office Building, and State House will remain closed during the postponement.

This does not immediately affect lobbyist reporting.

The Rhode Island General Assembly announced the postponement of the legislative session has been extended for another week due to COVID-19.

All legislative sessions and committee hearings for the week of April 13 to April 17 have been canceled.

Both chambers of the General Assembly are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, April 21.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

On April 8, Gov. Phil Murphy signed Executive Order 120 to postpone the federal and state primary elections from June 2 to July 7.

The executive order also reschedules any other election scheduled between May 13 through July 7 to be held on Tuesday, July 7.

The governor postponed the election due to the COVID-19 health emergency.

Additionally, postponement will allow state officials time to determine whether in-person voting can be held or if the election should be held by vote-by-mail.

Due to the current situation surrounding COVID-19, the Suffolk County Clerk of the Legislature announced under Executive Order 202.7, lobbyists preparing periodic reports for April 15 may have their report notarized remotely.

Additionally, the reports may be sent in digitally to meet the deadline.

If a lobbyist is unable to have their report notarized by April 15, the clerk’s office is requiring the report be submitted by the deadline.

Additionally, a notarized copy must be provided following their submission.

Gov. Tom Wolf granted the Department of State’s request to extend the deadline for filing lobbying reports and temporarily waive the notarization requirement for campaign finance reports.

The governor granted the request in response to COVID-19 and to minimize delays in required reporting.

The lobbying disclosure report deadline for the first quarter is extended until July 30.

The reports are required on the same date as the second quarterly report but must be filed separately.

The governor also granted a temporary waiver of the notarization requirement for campaign finance reports and campaign finance statements filed by political committees and candidates for public office.

The waiver allows the required documents to be filed online until the COVID-19 health emergency subsides.

Filers must sign, either physically or typed, and date their report or statement cover sheet.

For filers who file on paper, the department will accept emailed campaign finance reports for the duration of the emergency.

Filers must email the campaign finance reports to: RA-stcampaignfinance@pa.gov.

On April 3, Gov. Cuomo and lawmakers passed legislation to enact the state budget for the 2021 fiscal year.

The enacted legislation includes provisions for campaign finance reform and nonprofit disclosures.

Effective January 1, 2021, Senate Bill 7505 requires charitable organizations to file annual financial reports and funding disclosures with the Department of State to be published on their website for public transparency.

The governor also signed Senate Bill 7508 establishing a statewide public campaign financing system.

Senate Bill 7508 lowers contribution limits a candidate may accept while participating in the public funding system.

Under Senate Bill 7508, a candidate for statewide office may accept a contribution of $18,000 dollars in the aggregate.

The bill also sets contribution limits for state senators and assembly members to $10,000 and $6,000, respectively.

Contribution limits are divided equally among the primary and general elections in an election cycle.

Senate Bill 7508 takes effect on November 9, 2022, and applies to participants in the primary and general elections to be held in 2024.

To contain the spread of COVID-19, lawmakers have extended the postponement of the legislative session for another week.

All General Assembly sessions and committee hearings for the week of April 6 to April 10, have been canceled.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Office of the County Attorney announced emergency regulations extending the deadline for filing first quarter lobbyist reports.

This comes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and current state of emergency.

The deadline for lobbyist reports covering activity for the period of January 1 to March 31 is extended until May 15.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced the suspension of the Lobbying Random Audit Program to avoid unnecessary administrative burden during the COVID-19 emergency.

Effective immediately, no new audits will be initiated by JCOPE until further notice.

Complying with ongoing audits is voluntary until the commission resumes the audit program.

Any questions regarding this policy should be emailed to helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov, with ‘Audit’ in the subject line.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced a deadline extension for all lobbying filings until April 15.

The extension includes bimonthly reports covering activity for the reporting period of January to February 2020.

JCOPE also announced temporary procedures regarding hand delivery of report filings and checks.

Until further notice, visitors are not allowed into the JCOPE offices. Beginning April 15, JCOPE will accept hand delivery of lobbying filings.

However, the commission is not accepting hand delivery of checks until further notice.

Instead, any checks should be submitted either by mail or by submitting the filing through the online Lobbying Application using a credit card to pay the submission fee.

If neither option is possible, JCOPE asks filers to hold all checks for hand delivery until further notice.

State Senate President Donna Soucy and Speaker of the House Stephen Shurtleff announced the General Court has extended the suspension of all legislative activities through May 4.

During this time, the State House is closed to legislative members, legislative staff, and visitors.

The announcement is in conjunction with Governor Chris Sununu’s emergency stay-at-home order due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

On March 28, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.12 to move elections scheduled for April 28 to June 23 due to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

The postponement affects the presidential primary and special elections including:

• The 37th Congressional District
• The 50th Senate District
• The 12th, 31st, and 136th Assembly Districts

The executive order also reschedules a special election for Brooklyn City Council 37th District to June 23.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) advises required companies to file Business Entity Disclosures (FORM BE) as soon as possible if they are currently operational or otherwise able to file by the deadline, March 30.

ELEC will provide a grace period for any business entities during their period of closure if a business is affected by the current public health emergency.

To receive the grace period business entities may send a request by email to efiling@elec.nj.gov is required.

The request must indicate the business entity and the duration of the closure if known.