The North Dakota Ethics Commission unanimously approved an exception to the gift ban for food or beverage with a value of $10 or less, excluding gratuity, purchased for a public official in conjunction with an informal social and educational event.

The purchased food and beverage must be consumed during the event and a state resident must be present but is not required to be the purchaser of the food or beverage.

This new exception is effective immediately.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers signed Executive Order 127 calling for a special session of the Legislature to begin Tuesday, July 27 to consider a proposal to invest more than $500 million in funding for K-12 schools, the University of Wisconsin and Technical College systems, special education funding, and per pupil aid.

North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger approved petitions for term limits, changes to the constitutional amendment process, and to recall state House District 24 Rep. Dwight Kiefert.

The term limits petition would limit the governor and legislators to eight years of service, though lawmakers could serve up to eight years each in the House of Representatives and the Senate.

The measure also prohibits the Legislature from proposing a constitutional amendment to eliminate the term limits in the future.

The petition to change the process for constitutional amendments would raise voter approval from a simple majority to 60% and limit ballot measures to a single issue.

The petition by a group of lawmakers to recall Kiefert is in response to his vote to expel a colleague accused of sexual harassment earlier this year.

He is one of several representatives who were censured for the vote to expel Rep. Luke Simmons.

Each petition group has one year to gather the required number of signatures.

Cleveland City Council is drafting legislation to change the council’s meeting rules to create a public comment period.

Currently, the public is only allowed to speak at committee meetings at the discretion of the committee chairs.

Members of the public have not been allowed to speak at City Council meetings except in the 1920s when the city was under a city manager form of government.

The new legislation is expected to be enacted in August and effective in September.

The first special session adjourned sine die on July 7 after Minnesota lawmakers finalized the budget and passed several omnibus bills.

The omnibus tax bill passed during the special session included a lobbying ban for legislators.

House File 9 prohibits a sitting member of the Legislature from accepting employment with or otherwise receiving compensation from lobbying firms and government affairs businesses if the member’s job duties include lobbying or providing direct or indirect consulting, advice, or administrative support for lobbying efforts.

The bill is effective January 3, 2023.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz signed House File 1952 amending campaign finance disclosure laws by requiring reporting of contributions, campaign expenditures and independent expenditures made to certain local candidates or ballot issues.

The bill defines local candidate as an individual who seeks any county office in Hennepin County; any city office in any home rule charter city or statutory city located wholly within Hennepin County and having a population of 75,000 or more; or the school board in Special School District No. 1.

Cities included within the definition of local candidate include Minneapolis, Bloomington, and Brooklyn Park.

The bill also amends the definition of public official to include a chancellor or member of the Board of Trustees of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.

The bill also amends the requirements for filing and contents of statements of economic interest.

These amendments will be effective January 1, 2022 and apply to reports and disclosures required to be filed with the state Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board on or after that date.

The first special session of the Missouri General Assembly adjourned sine die on June 30.

The special session began on June 23 and called by Gov. Mike Parson to focus on passing the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA) extension, a tax to pay for the state’s Medicaid program.

Before adjourning lawmakers passed health care bills, including Senate Bill 1, sending to Parson the required extension of the FRA.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called a special session of the Legislature beginning June 23 to pass the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), which renews a tax on medical providers to help pay for the state’s Medicaid program.

Lawmakers have until September 30 to pass the FRA.

Illinois Lawmakers worked past the legislative session deadline to pass an ethics reform package and major election changes.

The ethics reforms include expanding state registration requirements under the Lobbyist Registration Act to include lobbying local officials in municipalities with a population under 500,000 and lobbying certain deputy state officials.

Senate Bill 539 also expands revolving door restrictions and prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions and on the day before and after the session.

The election changes in Senate Bill 825 include moving the 2022 primary election from March 15 to June 28.

The Legislature stands adjourned until the call of the speaker of the House and the Senate president.

The Illinois Senate passed an ethics omnibus bill early this morning.

The bill expands registration requirements under the Lobbyist Registration Act to include lobbying local officials and certain deputy state officials.

Senate Bill 539 also prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions and on the day before and after the session.

It is currently only prohibited in Sangamon County.

Expanded revolving door restrictions include a one-year waiting period for anyone who participated personally and substantially in the award or fiscal administration of state contracts and a six-month waiting period for members of the General Assembly and officers of the executive branch.

The bill also requires any consultant hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register and report if they communicate with an official. If signed by the governor, this bill will be effective January 1, 2022.

The 101st General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 25, sending less than a hundred bills to Gov. Mike Parson and leaving unfinished business, including the passage of the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), a tax on medical providers that helps pay for the state’s Medicaid program.

They have until September 30 to pass the FRA and Rep. Sarah Unsicker has requested a special session to renew it.

Other Lawmakers have also sent requests for special sessions to Gov. Mike Parson on different topics, including redistricting, election bills, the Kansas City police budget, and race-related school curricula.

The North Dakota Ethics Commission has proposed a limited food and drink exception to the rules banning gifts between lobbyists and public officials implemented last year.

The proposed rule change adds an exception for food or beverage with a value of $10 or less, excluding gratuity, purchased for a public official in conjunction with an informal social and educational event.

The purchased food and beverage must be consumed during the event and a state resident must be present, but is not required to be the purchaser of the food or beverage.

The revised rules also define informal social and educational event as any meeting, session, or interaction occurring within the state between a public official and a state resident, including but not limited to a registered lobbyist who is a state resident, for the purpose of informing or educating the public official on a matter of interest or concern.

The proposed rule changes are open to public comment through July 9.

Ohio State Rep. Mark Fraizer and Rep. Brian Stewart filed a resolution to expel Rep. Larry Householder from the House of Representatives.

Lawmakers voted unanimously to remove Householder from his position as House speaker in July 2020, though he retained his seat in the Legislature and was reelected in November.

Householder pleaded not guilty on Thursday in connection with a $60 million federal racketeering case related to House Bill 6, Ohio’s nuclear bailout law.

Three co-defendants in the case have pleaded guilty.

Wisconsin lawmakers convened the special session called by Gov. Tony Evers on May 25 for less than a minute and adjourned without considering the governor’s plan.

Evers called the special session to consider the expansion of BadgerCare, the Wisconsin Medicaid system, and invest the $1 billion in cost savings realized under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) into Wisconsin’s economic recovery.

As of today, 38 states have approved Medicaid expansion to become eligible for the additional federal funding.