The 2021 session of the Utah Legislature adjourned sine die on March 5 after being in session since January 19.

During the session, lawmakers introduced legislation relating to PAC reporting requirements and amending provisions of the state procurement code.

Utah House Bill 310 relating to PACs establishes that a PAC must report each contribution and expenditure to the Lieutenant Governor’s Office within 31 days after the contribution is received or the expenditure is made.

Under the bill, if the exact amount of an expenditure cannot be determined before the deadline to report the expenditure, the PAC must report a reasonable estimate of the amount of the expenditure before the deadline and report the exact amount of the expenditure.

House Bill 310 was introduced February 4 but did not pass during the session.

In relation to procurement code amendments, Utah Senate Bill 188 defines the term contract price as the price under an existing contract between a procurement unit and a contractor and specifies that it does not include a proposed price or cost contained in a solicitation response or any other bid, proposal, or offer submitted by a person other than the contractor under the existing contract.

Under Senate Bill 188, a contractor under a multiple award contract resulting from a bidding process may not lower the contract price unless the contractor’s solicitation response led to the award was the lowest price solicitation response.

Senate Bill 188 is currently being drafted for the enrolling process to be sent to Gov. Spencer Cox’s desk. Gov. Cox has until March 25 to sign or veto legislation, or it will become law without signature.

Aurora City Council member Angela Lawson is sponsoring an ordinance to create lobbyist registration and reporting requirements.

Lawson’s sweeping proposals would require lobbyists to register their clients and income with the city and submit quarterly, detailed reports on their activities and financial motivations.

Lobbyists who do not comply with the regulations could lose the ability to influence city officials on matters from development to zoning rules, permits and city contracts, face possible expulsion and up to $2,500 fines per charge.

The rules would apply not only to lobbyists and the City Council but also to the city manager, staff, board and commission members, and presiding judges, among others. The city clerk would be responsible for deciding if rules have been violated and handing down judgments.

City Council members will review the proposal during their next regular meeting on March 8.

A special session or pause in the Nebraska Legislature is anticipated due to delays in delivering U.S. Census data.

This data is needed for redrawing districts served by state legislators, U.S. congressional representatives, and other elected officials.

Normally, the once-a-decade census is done by October, affording plenty of time for double-checks so that census numbers needed for redistricting can be delivered by April 1.

COVID-19 and other factors delayed the 2020 Census, and now state officials are expecting the census data to be delivered September 30.

This is three months after the regular session of the Legislature is scheduled to end.

A special meeting, session, or some of the 49-member Nebraska Legislature will be special accommodation, will be necessary.

Rather than calling a separate special session, the Legislature could decide to pause its 90-day session before its scheduled end date of June 10.

The session will, then, resume the remainder of the session in the fall.

Delaying the end of the session would also delay the implementation date for many bills until late into the year.

This created a strong argument for ending the regular session and then gaveling in a special session later.

No decision has been made yet because of the uncertainty due to the pandemic.

The Colorado Secretary of State temporarily adopted lobbyist rules 8 C.C.R. 1505-8 on March 1, defining and establishing new requirements for redistricting commission lobbyists.

The new rules define redistricting commission lobbyist as a person who is contracted or compensated to communicate directly or indirectly with a member of a redistricting commission for the purposes of aiding or influencing such redistricting commission or their staff. Additionally, the rules require those who are registered as professional lobbyists to electronically register as a redistricting commission lobbyist and disclose all clients that contract with or compensate them.

The secretary of state also issued a notice of rulemaking to consider permanent adoption of the temporary rules.

The virtual public rulemaking hearing is scheduled for April 19 at 3 p.m.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has selected February 23 as the date of the special runoff election for House District 68.

The runoff election will be held to replace former Rep. Drew Springer, R, who is now in the Texas Senate.

The runoff candidates are David Spiller, a Jacksboro attorney and school board trustee, and Craig Carter, a former candidate for overlapping state Senate District 30.

Spiller finished first in the five-way special election last month, receiving 44% of the vote.

Carter was the runner-up with 18%.

Early voting for the House District 68 runoff begins February 16.

In furtherance of transparency, Puerto Rico Gov. Pedro R. Pierluisi passed an administrative order establishing registration and reporting requirements and creating new prohibitions for lobbyists and lobbyist firms engaging with the House of Representatives.

Administrative Order 2021-03 directs the House to create and maintain a registry in which persons and entities must register and report detailed information related to their lobbying efforts.

The administrative order establishes disclosure requirements in which lobbyists and lobbying firms must, at the beginning of contact with the House, provide the identity of the client or clients on whose behalf they are carrying out lobbying efforts.

No later than July 1 and December 31 of each year, the order establishes that every person or entity registered as a lobbyist must submit a report before a Public Notary.

The order also prohibits natural or legal persons from working as a lobbyist while a contract with the Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico is in force and bans any natural or legal person who has been convicted or has pleaded guilty in the state or federal forum, or in any other jurisdiction, from lobbying the House.

Greater disclosure requirements for lobbyists in New Mexico will be a topic of discussion during the largely virtual 2021 legislative session.

Lawmakers will consider requiring lobbyists or their employers to list the bills they lobbied, the position they took on each bill, and to report all money spent to influence state policy, including lobbyist compensation.

Additionally, legislation has been proposed to empower the state ethics commission to set the salary of all public officials, including legislators.

Though these types of proposals have failed in the past, open government advocates believe they stand a better chance in a virtual session without lobbyists physically present in the building.

During the virtual session, the public will be able to provide comments online via Zoom or by phone while the Roundhouse remains closed due to COVID-19.

House members will participate in floor and committee debates via Zoom, which will be broadcast publicly online. All legislation considered by the full House will be placed on a temporary calendar for 24 hours to ensure transparency and accessibility.

The Louisiana February 6 special primary election and March 20 special general election for House District 35 are canceled.

A special primary election was originally scheduled for February 6 followed by a special general election on March 20 to fill the vacancy in House District 35.

Stephen Dwight, who previously held the seat, resigned December 1, 2020, following his November election as Calcasieu Parish District Attorney.

Brett Geymann, a former state representative, was the only one to file for the House District 35 seat and qualify before the filing deadline of January 8.

A Republican, Geymann was the District 35 state representative from 2004 until he was term-limited in 2016. Louisiana does not have lifetime term limits, allowing Geymann to run again for the House seat.

Geymann will be sworn in on January 19.

The Arizona Secretary of State’s Office has increased contribution limits for the 2021-2022 election cycle.

Effective January 1, an individual may not contribute more than $5,300 per election cycle to a candidate committee for statewide office and legislative office. Additionally, an individual may not contribute more than $6,550 per election cycle to a candidate committee for district office, county office, town office, and city office.

Contribution limits for PACs have also increased. A PAC without Mega PAC status may not contribute more than $5,300 per election cycle to a candidate for statewide office. In contrast, a PAC with Mega PAC status may contribute $10,600 per election cycle to candidates for statewide and legislative office and $13,100 per election cycle to candidates for county, city, town, or district office.

The Colorado Legislature will convene for the 2021 regular session on January 13.

However, it is expected to pause soon after until February 16 due to growing COVID-19 concerns in the state.

Lawmakers will convene to address urgent business, including swearing in new members, as quickly as possible before temporarily pausing the session.

The tentative plan is to resume February 16 when leaders hope the peak of the pandemic will have subsided. However, work may resume earlier if there is an emergency that requires immediate attention.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted to adopt the proposed changes to the Constitutional Ethics Rules related to lobbying and campaign finance.

Amendment 2021-01 impacts candidate committees formed for elections held prior to 2015. The changes include establishing a mandatory dissolution date of December 31, 2021; removing the limitation of expenditure of funds for only those purposes listed on the committee’s Statement of Organization; and providing a process for dissolving a candidate committee with debt without filing continuing reports with the Commission.

Amendment 3 to 2021-02 impacts lobbying laws by adding a new category of gifts for books and similar informational materials that do not count against the $500 overall aggregate limit of gifts and requiring this category of gift be reported in the same manner as other gifts are reported.

The commission directed the Executive Director to deliver the changes to the legislature and governor on February 1, 2021, in accordance with Article 29, section 3 of the Oklahoma Constitution.

The amendments will become effective upon adjournment sine die of the regular legislative session on May 28, 2021.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards will call a special election on March 20 to fill the 5th Congressional District.

This seat was previously held by the late Luke Letlow, who died December 29 from COVID-19 complications.

Letlow, 41, had been elected to replace incumbent Congressman Ralph Abraham, who had previously chosen not to seek reelection.

Letlow is survived by his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two children.

The special election would coincide with already scheduled spring elections on March 20 for the primary and April 24 for a runoff.

Until then, the 5th Congressional District will be without a representative once Abraham’s term expires and the new Congress is sworn-in January 3.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has selected January 23 as the date of the special election to fill the seat of Rep. Drew Springer, who recently won a promotion to the Texas Senate.

Springer is headed to the upper chamber after winning the December 19 special election runoff to replace Sen. Pat Fallon, who is on his way to Congress next month.

At least two Republicans have already announced campaigns for the House seat. They are Jason Brinkley, who is resigning as Cooke County judge to run for the seat, and David Spiller, a Jacksboro attorney.

A special election will take place on April 6, 2021 in Oklahoma Senate District 22.

The special election became necessary after Stephanie Bice was elected to represent Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District. Her resignation is effective December 31 of this year.

The primary is scheduled to take place on February 9, 2021.

Former state legislator Rob Johnson, Darrick Matthews, Jake Merrick, and Keri Shipley are running in the Republican primary. In addition, Dylan Billings and Molly Ooten are running in the Democratic primary.