The Texas Legislature adjourned sine die May 31 after 140 days in session.

Talk of a special session and questions about how soon one may happen or what additional issues Gov. Greg Abbott could task legislators with has largely defined the last weekend of the legislative session.

In the final days of the session, House Democrats staged a walkout and broke quorum, making it impossible to give final approval to Senate Bill 7, a massive voting bill that would tighten the state’s election laws, before the midnight deadline.

Gov. Abbott quickly made clear that the bill, along with another other priority legislation that would have made it harder for people arrested to bond out of jail without cash, still must pass and that the two issues will be added to the special session agenda.

Before lawmakers adjourned, Gov. Abbott made clear he intends to reprimand the Legislature over its unfinished business by vetoing the section of the state budget that funds the legislative branch.

The 107^th legislative session of the Nebraska Legislature adjourned sine die May 27, earlier than anticipated.

During the session, lawmakers passed the state’s two-year budget and approved significant tax reform.

The Legislature is scheduled to convene in early fall for a special legislative session to complete the 2021 redistricting process.

The May sine die adjournment triggers a statement of activity report due July 11, which is 45 days after adjournment sine die of the legislative session.

The Legislature is scheduled to convene in its 2022 session on January 5.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned its 2021 regular legislative session sine die on May 27, one day before a constitutionally mandated deadline.

The House and Senate both adjourned before noon after each chamber passed a bill making some minor modifications to the state’s medical marijuana laws.

The House also gave final approval to a measure that allows the governor to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy should one occur. Both of those bills now head to the governor’s desk.

Ethics Rule Amendment 202101 related to candidate committee reporting is slated to take effect upon adjournment sine die. The amendment modifies ethics rules applicable to candidate committees formed for elections held prior to January 1, 2015, by providing a mandatory dissolution date, modifying uses of surplus funds and treatment of debt of those committees, and providing a repeal of ethics rules applicable to candidate committees formed for elections held prior to January 1, 2015.

The 2022 legislative session will convene on February 7.

The Kansas Legislature adjourned sine die from its 2021 legislative session on May 26.

During the session, lawmakers in Kansas passed proposals to ban COVID-19 vaccine passports, limit efforts to track down the close contacts of people with the coronavirus and provide up to $500 million to businesses that closed or faced pandemic restrictions.

Several bills related to lobbying law were also introduced but did not pass. House Bill 2055 would have changed the five-day grace period for the late filing notice for lobbyist reports and statements of substantial interest reports to begin when the notice is deposited in the mail.

Additionally, House Bill 2235 would have required lobbyists to wear body cameras while inside the statehouse. The bill would have required such recordings to be public records. Additionally, House Bill 2235 would have prohibited any economic benefit or hospitality provided by a lobbyist to a legislator or candidates for the Legislature.

The 2022 legislative session will convene on January 10.

Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs announced her resignation May 20, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott to search for the fifth secretary of state during his time in office.

Hughs’ nomination for another term as the state’s top elections officer was not taken up by the Senate Nominations Committee, effectively forcing her resignation.

Hughs stated she plans to transition back into her private practice. Her resignation will become effective May 31 when the session ends.

With the 87th legislative session nearing conclusion, Gov. Abbott’s next appointee, if made after the session, will not need Senate confirmation until the Legislature convenes again.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has selected July 27 as the date of the special election runoff to replace the late Rep. Ron Wright in Texas’ 6th Congressional District.

Ron Wright, a second-term congressman, died in February after being diagnosed with COVID-19.

The race for Wright’s unfinished term pits Wright’s widow, Susan Wright, against state Rep. Jake Ellzey of Waxahachie.

Wright, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, finished first in the May 1 special election, which had 23 candidates. She got 19% of the vote.

Ellzey came in second with 14%.

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox has called for state legislators to meet in a special session May 19 to discuss issues including accepting and appropriating funds from the American Rescue Plan.

The Legislature will also discuss prohibiting face mask requirements in K-12 schools, amending provisions related to the sale of electronic cigarettes, and extending the state of emergency for drought conditions.

However, lawmakers will not discuss critical race theory and Second Amendment sanctuary legislation during the special session.

Cox said Second Amendment sanctuary legislation should wait for a future general session.

The length of the special session has not been announced. This does not affect lobbying dates.

Individuals, political committees, lobbyists, or their principals may not make a campaign contribution to the governor, the governor’s personal campaign committee, or a PAC controlled by the governor when the Legislature is convened in a special session.

Wichita City Council members will no longer be left to police themselves on ethics violations after passing a long-awaited and much-debated policy on May 11.

The ethics policy sets gift limits for elected and appointed city officials for the first time in city history.

It applies to all city board appointees and council members.

The new policy creates a seven-member Ethics Advisory Board to investigate and rule on ethics complaints.

City officials could be censured or fined up to $1,000 for serious violations.

Lesser offenses would require an official to undergo ethics training.

It also offers whistleblower protection to city employees who report violations.

The City Council also kept in place a 63-year-old ethics ordinance prohibiting favorable treatment to “friends,” a word council members struggled to define last month before scrubbing it entirely from the new policy.

After the vote May 11, the City Council now has two ethics codes: a city law, which has been in place since 1958, and a new City Council policy.

Keeping the ordinance in place will be a helpful transition until the council appoints an Ethics Advisory Board and an ethics officer to lead the board.

Related to gifts, the new policy caps what city officials can receive at $150 a year from a specific donor, with some exceptions.

Additionally, any gifts more than $50 must be reported annually.

The policy carves out exemptions to what is considered a gift, allowing city officials to accept unlimited gifts in the form of food and event admission from any nonprofit organization, political or policy-based group, educational institution, community development or faith-based organization.

Those gifts could include anything from free tickets to college sporting events to golf tournaments.

City officials covered by the policy are also entitled to unlimited free meals “when their presence is requested to attend a meeting or event.”

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission electronic filing systems will be down and offline for scheduled maintenance on Thursday, May 13 from 8 a.m. to noon.

The offline systems will include the candidate filing system, noncandidate committee filing system, and the noncandidate committee import system.

During this downtime, new candidate and noncandidate committees will not be able to electronically file the Organizational Report to register with the commission, and currently registered candidate and noncandidate committees will not be able to enter campaign spending data and electronically file disclosure reports or any other reports.

Currently registered noncandidate committees will also not be able to import contribution and expenditure data into the noncandidate committee filing system.

Additionally, campaign spending reports filed by candidate committees and noncandidate committees will not be accessible on the candidate filing system and noncandidate committee filing system public sites during this downtime.

However, the candidate and noncandidate committee data visualizations and the candidate and noncandidate committee searchable databases are still accessible.

Louisiana election officials have scheduled a special election for the District 7 seat in the Louisiana State Senate for July 10.

The seat became vacant after Troy Carter was elected to the U.S. House to represent Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional District on April 24.

The primary will take place on June 12, and the filing deadline is on May 7.

The 31st session of the Hawaii Legislature will adjourn sine die on April 29 after 55 days in session.

During the legislative session, lawmakers introduced several bills related to campaign finance and lobbying laws.

Senate Bill 0166, related to campaign finance, prohibits foreign nationals and foreign corporations from making independent expenditures. The bill requires every corporation that contributes or expends funds in a state election to file a statement of certification regarding its limited foreign influence.

Additionally, the bill requires noncandidate committees making only independent expenditures to obtain a statement of certification from each top contributor required to be listed in an advertisement. If passed, the bill would become effective immediately.

Senate Bill 0557, relating to administrative action lobbying, expands the definition of administrative action for purposes of the lobbying laws to include granting or denying applications for business or development-related permits, licenses, or approvals.

The bill also clarifies that lobbying laws apply to lobbying by the executive branch. If passed, the bill would become effective September 1, 2021.

Bills signed by Gov. David Ige will go into effect July 1. Bills not signed by the governor will take effect 90 days after adjournment sine die.

Wichita City Council introduced an ethics proposal to establish gift restrictions for elected and appointed city officials.

Proposal 2021-01-26 would cap the value of gifts Wichita’s mayor and City Council members may receive from people doing or planning to do business with the city at $150 a year and require disclosure of gifts worth $50 or more.

The proposal would also establish a whistleblower hotline with protections for those who want to report a violation, and an ethics advisory board to be appointed by the mayor and council to handle complaints against the mayor, council members or any members of city boards or commissions.

Penalties for violations of the proposed code of ethics would result in a fine between $100 and $1,000 for each violation.

Council members will hold a workshop on the ordinance April 27 and vote on the proposal in May.

The Colorado Secretary of State will host a rulemaking hearing April 19 on proposed amendments to Colorado Secretary of State Rules Concerning Lobbyist Regulation (8 C.C.R. Section 1505-8).

The proposals amend the definition of redistricting commission lobbyist as a person who is contracted or compensated to communicate directly or indirectly, including through providing public comment.

The proposal further provides such communication would be with a member of a redistricting commission as a whole, with an individual member of a redistricting commission, or with redistricting commission staff, to advocate for the adoption or rejection of any map, amendment to a map, or to otherwise aid or influence such redistricting commission, commissioner, or staff.

The hearing will begin at 3:00 p.m. and will conclude at the end of public comment.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission will hold a regular meeting on Friday, April 9 at 10 a.m. to discuss the use of campaign funds for officeholders and lobbyist expenditures.

On the topic of campaign finance, the meeting will cover the campaign funds for officeholders to purchase gifts of small value for visitors, including students, to their offices at the capitol. The commission will also review campaign fund expenditure categories to provide more clarity for what expenses are campaign-related, officeholder-related, or surplus funds.

On the topic of lobbyist expenditures, the commission will review the expenditure lump-sum category of food and beverage provides for a caucus event to include events that do not pertain to caucus business. Implementation of a non-solicitation requirement for gifts from lobbyists and liaisons for state officers and employees will also be considered.

The meeting will be held in person and live-streamed for the public. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Friday, May 14.