Louisiana lawmakers adjourned the 2022 regular session sine die on the evening of June 6.

During the session, legislators balanced the budget as well as spending related to education, healthcare, and critical infrastructure.

Trigger language to Louisiana law will end abortion in the state if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

Legislation was also drafted to lower the cost of insulin, help hurricane victims deal with their insurance companies and landlords, reform the criminal justice system, and help rural communities and small businesses.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting dates.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned its regular session on May 27 without referring any measures to the 2022 ballot for voters to consider.

During the session, lawmakers considered referring constitutional amendments and state statutes to the ballot. Fifteen constitutional amendments and one state statute had passed in the chamber of origin but did not receive final approval in the opposite chamber before adjournment.

Proposed constitutional amendments must be referred to the ballot and receive voter approval to be enacted. To put a proposed constitutional amendment on a ballot, a simple majority vote of all members in both the Senate and House is required.

Legislators will return in June for a special veto session to address eliminating the state’s 4.5% grocery tax and reducing the personal income tax.

The Oklahoma Legislature called a concurrent legislative session to begin May 18 concerning $1.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund spending.

The special session will also cover $698 million in Large-scale Economic Activity and Development Act (LEAD Act) allocations to pursue Project Ocean, which state officials described as an economic development project that is considering Oklahoma for a major manufacturing operation.

The concurrent session can keep going after the regular session adjourns, which must be done by 5 p.m. Friday, May 27.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting dates.

The 73^rd Colorado General Assembly adjourned sine die May 11.

During the session, legislation related to campaign finance was introduced. House Bill 1060 was passed, creating aggregate limits on candidates for school district director from persons other than small donor committees for any regular biennial or special school election of $2,500. Further, a $25,000 limit was established for contributions to candidates for school district director from small donor committees for any regular biennial or special school election. The bill takes effect July 1.

Additionally, Senate Bill 237 relating to ballot measure expenditures was introduced and passed through both chambers as of May 10. The bill would expand the definition of earmark for purposes of the Fair Campaign Practices Act to include contributions or expenditures greater than $1,000 to support or oppose a specified ballot issue or ballot question. Further, the bill would modify the process to determine whether an organization is an issue committee to include an examination of the organization’s pattern of conduct. Additionally, any person who makes a expends $5,000 in aggregate in a calendar year on direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure expenditures must report to the secretary of state, and any person who makes a direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure must disclose their name in certain communications about a ballot issue or ballot question. If passed, portions of the bill would become effective immediately and the section providing for disclosure to the secretary of state of $5,000 spent by an individual in a calendar year would become effective September 1.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Hawaii Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die May 5.

During the session, several bills related to campaign finance were introduced.

House Bill 1423, with its last action on March 18, was introduced but has not passed.

The bill set out to increase the fine for campaign spending law violations against a noncandidate committee making only independent expenditures and that has received at least one contribution of more than $10,000, or spent more than $10,000 in an election period.

House Bill 1423 would have allowed the campaign spending commission to order that the fine be up to three times the amount of the unlawful contribution or expenditure, and that the payment of the fine assessed against a noncandidate committee, or any portion thereof, be paid from the personal funds of an officer of the noncandidate committee.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Kansas Legislature adjourned its special veto session just after 2 a.m. on April 29.

During the recently concluded veto session, the Legislature passed the omnibus spending bill to fund public schools and special education.

Typically, upon veto adjournment, the Legislature sets sine die, the last official day of the session. This year, the Legislature set a date to return of May 23, leaving the session open in case court rulings on congressional maps would require further legislative action.

This does not affect lobbying dates.

The 107th Nebraska Legislature adjourned sine die on April 20 after 60 days in session.

Due to term limits, 11 senators are leaving the Legislature and an additional two decided not to seek reelection. The term limit senators include Henderson Sen. Curt Friesen, Lincoln Sen. Matt Hansen, Omaha Sen. Robert Hilkemann, Venango Sen. Dan Hughes, Seward Sen. Mark Koltermann. Creighton Sen. Tim Gragert and Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop chose not to run for reelection.

During the session, legislation to provide Nebraskans with a record $3.4 billion in tax relief by 2027 passed. Other legislation related to lobbying and campaign finance that would have prohibited a school board of an education service unit from authorizing a lobbyist to act on its behalf without a current contract for lobbing services was introduced but not passed.

Lobbying reporting dates are not affected by adjournment. The 2023 session is scheduled to convene January 4.

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed into law legislation creating campaign finance limits for school board races for the first time.

House Bill 1060 will cap individual donations at $2,500 and small donor committees at $25,000 per school board candidate.

The legislation, however, won’t affect spending by independent committees.

The new contribution limits would be subject to existing laws governing the disclosure of campaign contribution and would require filings with the secretary of state.

The bill goes into effect July 1, 2022.

Utah lawmakers passed a lobbying transparency bill establishing requirements for foreign agents and amending the definition of lobbying.

House Bill 90 defines the term foreign agent and requires a foreign agent to register with the lieutenant governor.

Under the bill, a foreign agent must complete a foreign agent registration form, license application form, and wear an indicating name tag in at least 14-point type.

Additionally, the definition of lobbying includes influencing local action, such as an ordinance or purchasing decision, or education action, such as a nomination or appointment by an official or board.

The bill will become effective May 4.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott set June 14 as the date for an emergency special election to fill the House seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela.

Vela resigned from Congress on March 31 just months before the end of his current term that would have ended in January. Vela is among 31 House Democrats who said they would not seek reelection this year.

The winner of the election will only have the seat for five months before the November midterms determine who will represent the 34th Congressional District for the following two years.

The Kansas Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die in the early hours of Saturday, April 2.

During the session, several bills related to campaign finance were introduced but not passed.

House Bill 2707, related to political advertising, sought to define corrupt advertising as communications that do not disclose the name of the sponsoring organization and of the chairperson, treasurer, or other individual responsible for the ad.

The last action on the bill was a referral to the Election Commissar on February 15.

Lawmakers successfully passed an unconstitutionally gerrymandered congressional map and a $22 billion state budget plan that contained a raise for state workers.

Issues that weren’t resolved are expected to be taken up during a veto session, which is slated to begin Monday, April 25.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Louisiana lawmakers will hold a special veto override session beginning Wednesday, March 30 as Republicans attempt to overturn Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ rejection of a new congressional map.

Democrats proposed about a dozen maps that showed enough Black voters live close enough together to allow for a second minority-majority district under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965. Republicans counter that the Democratic proposals created districts that splintered other populations with shared interests and created districts with too few Black voters to guarantee a minority candidate would win.

The veto session, which is dictated by state law, will commence during the regular legislative session. There is no legal framework to guide lawmakers, so leadership plans to recess the current session, convene a short veto override session, and then resume the current regular session. This does not affect lobbyist reporting dates.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox will call lawmakers for a special legislative session to consider financial and legal issues regarding House Bill 11, relating to student eligibility in interscholastic activities.

The call is set for 2 p.m. on Friday, March 25. This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will call state lawmakers back to Santa Fe for a special session on April 5 to address economic relief due to rising costs.

State lawmakers had considered calling for an extraordinary session after the governor vetoed a spending bill that had been approved during the regular session.

A revised supplemental spending bill will be reviewed during the special session.

It is unclear when the special session is slated to end.

A 48-hour legislative report will be due for a lobbyist or employer who makes or incurs an expenditure of $500 or more during the special session.