Senator Ray Jones has introduced a bill to prohibit lobbying during legislative sessions. Senate Bill 183 prohibits both legislative and executive lobbyists from contacting any member of the General Assembly, directly or indirectly, regarding any issue, bill, or proposal under consideration by the General Assembly during regular or extraordinary sessions.

The bill restricts the definitions of legislative agent and executive branch lobbyist to include only those who either receive compensation for lobbying, or those lobbying on behalf of more than one group, organization, business, or public interest issue entity. If passed, lobbyists violating the prohibition will face a fine of $500 for each violation.

Governor Phil Bryant has set the special election to fill the seat of the late Representative Joe Gardner.

The House District 11 election will be held March 26, 2013.

The candidate qualifying deadline is February 25.

The Palm Beach County Commission voted in favor of a proposal to expand the county’s ethics commission from five members to seven. County Commissioner Priscilla Taylor pushed for the change, saying the commission needed more diversity.

The proposal will go before the committee responsible for drafting changes to the county code, and then back to the county commission for a final vote.

Independent community groups are responsible for selecting the ethics commission’s members.

A runoff election is scheduled for Alabama’s 35th Senate District.

Businessman Bill Hightower, who received 47 percent of the votes in the primary election, will face Rep. Jim Barton on March 12.

Governor Phil Bryant has set a special election to fill the House District 36 seat on March 12, 2013.

A runoff will be held April 2, 2013, if no candidate receives a majority of the votes.

The seat was held by Representative David Gibbs until his death from cancer on January 13.

Representative Kurt Wright announced his intention to introduce campaign finance legislation that will enhance disclosures in an election year. Wright and 10 other legislators are working on legislation that would require campaign finance reports to be filed monthly after January 15 in an election year, and increase filing to biweekly leading up to a primary or general election.

Currently, filings are due monthly after July 15.

The bill will also contain provisions related to donor disclosure, requiring PACs to disclose a top contributor if he or she provides more than half of all contributions in a six-month period, and super PACs to disclose their top three donors if their combined contributions account for more than half of contributions received.

Photo of Vermont State House by Jared C. Benedict on Wikipedia.

The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission is seeking changes to the fees it charges for lobbyist and political action committee registrations. The commission’s executive director Carol Williams said the commission has not determined the amount of the increase it plans to propose, but that it will likely be a modest amount.

The fees for lobbyists and PACs have not increased in 12 years and the commission receives about a third of its funding through fees. The commission is also recommending an increase in the threshold amount at which a person must register as a lobbyist, from the current $100 in expenditures for lobbying to $500. The current threshold has not increased in 25 years, and the commission believes the proposed amount is a reasonable inflation factor.

Governor Steve Beshear has set the special election to fill the House District 52 seat for February 12, 2013.

The election will fill the unexpired term of Sara Beth Gregory, who won a special election to the Kentucky Senate after former senate president David Williams resigned to accept a circuit judge appointment by Governor Beshear.

The Idaho Legislature is exploring the idea of creating an independent ethics commission. The new speaker of the house, Representative Scott Bedke, says that house lawmakers are working on the details of what such a commission would look like.

The commission would be a formal standing ethics committee, although Rep. Bedke did not specify whether a proposed commission would be completely independent of the legislature.

Idaho is among the small minority of states that do not have an ethics commission.

Photo of the Idaho Capitol Rotunda by Kencf0618 on Wikipedia.

Two lawmakers have announced their intention to introduce campaign finance bills this session. Senator Bill Avery plans to introduce legislation lowering the threshold amount to trigger campaign finance reports from $250 to $100. Senator Avery’s bill would additionally use the amount remaining in the fund created by the Campaign Finance Limitation Act, which was ruled unconstitutional by the Nebraska Supreme Court, to create an online system for filing campaign finance disclosure reports.

Senator Steve Lathrop intends to introduce a bill that would require nonprofits to report their expenditures on political advertising. He argues that nonprofits involved in the election process should be subject to the same rules as other groups required to report their spending.

Ethics Commission executive director Theresa Kirk is planning to leave the agency to work in the private sector. She expects to stay on for 60 to 90 days to assist in preparing the commission’s 2013 legislative agenda and the transition to a new executive director.

Ms. Kirk has been the commission’s executive director since February 2009, and prior to that served as the commission’s legal counsel. The commission approved an employment exemption allowing her to seek work in the private sector.

The General Assembly held a one-day special session December 19, 2012, to approve budget cuts to close the state’s budget deficit.

The session also included a one-hour memorial for the Newtown shooting victims.

Photo of the Connecticut State Capitol courtesy of Ragesoss on Wikipedia.

A special election for Senate District 28 has been scheduled for February 5, 2013.

The seat was left vacant by the death of Sen. Alice Harden on December 6.

Governor Bentley has set the special election schedule for House District 97. The seat was formerly held by Rep. Yvonne Kennedy, who passed away December 8.

The election timeline will be as follows:

• The primary election will be held February 26, 2013, unless the major parties have only one candidate, in which case the general election will be held that date;
• A primary runoff, or the general election if no runoff is needed, will be held April 9, 2013; and,
• If both a primary and runoff are required, the general election will be held May 21, 2013.

If a primary and runoff are both needed, the seat will remain vacant for the entire 2013 legislative session.