Federal Judge John A. Mendes of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California has blocked the implementation of Assembly Bill 2839.

The bill targets election misinformation and attempts to regulate a broad spectrum of election-related content which is materially deceptive and uses AI technology.

The court found the law does not use the least restrictive means available for advancing the state’s interest.

Bills regulating the use of AI in election-related communications continue to be a big part of legislative agendas with over half of the states passing or considering AI legislation.

Gov. Newsom signed bills into law this week dealing with pay-to-play provisions contained in the Levine act.

Senate Bill 1181 and 1243 increase the permissible campaign contribution threshold from $250 to $500 regarding contributions to state and local agency officials from certain entities such as corporations and individuals with business before the agency.

The bills also expand the definition of participant and license, permit, or other entitlement for use to exempt certain types of proceedings from being subject to the requirements of the Levine Act.

Other changes include an increase in the period an official may cure a violation from 14 to 30 days.

A section of the bill also clarifies a contribution of an agent will not be aggregated with contributions from a party or participant when determining whether a contribution has exceeded $500.

The bills become effective January 1, 2025.

Gov. Newsom signed a bill with disclosure requirements for political committees creating, originally publishing, or originally distributing a qualified political advertisement.

A qualified political advertisement is an advertisement containing any image, audio, or video generated or substantially altered using artificial intelligence.

Assembly Bill 2355 requires the disclosure of a qualified political advertisement to be appear at the top of the disclosure area and to be separated from the other required disclosures by a blank line.

The bill becomes effective January 1, 2025.

Voters will decide whether to pass a ballot measure this upcoming November election which would tighten the city’s public ethics laws.

Ballot Measure OO would establish and revise various requirements of the Public Ethics Commission and its members.

It would also amend the lobbyist registration act to prohibit lobbyists from making direct payments of more than $50 per year to local elected officials, candidates, and their families.

If approved by voters on November 5, the measure would be effective 10 days after the vote but the amendments to the lobbyist registration act would be effective January 1, 2025.

The Board of Supervisors passed an ordinance increasing local campaign contribution limits for corporations, PACs, and individuals who give to candidates and their committees.

Ordinance No. 4479 increases the current limit of $5,500 per election cycle to $10,000 per year.

The limit for political parties contributing to candidates jumps from $5,500 per election cycle to $100,000 per year.

A newly created oversight committee will be responsible for enforcing the new rules.

The county previously operated under the state’s default campaign contribution limits but localities are able to set their own limits.

The ordinance will be effective October 11 and will only apply to contributions made to, or received by, a candidate on or after the effective date.

Senate Bill 1243 was recently passed by the Legislature and will be sent to the governor for approval or veto.

The bill raises the threshold of contributions governed under the pay-to-play Levine Act from $250 to $500.

A section of the bill also clarifies a contribution from an agent which exceeds $500 will not be aggregated with contributions from a party or participant.

The period for which an officer may cure a violation is increased from 14 to 30 days.

Additional definitions are added for pending and agent, while definitions are amended for participant and license, permit, or other entitlement for use.

Senate Bill 1243 is effective January 1, 2025, dependent upon changes proposed in Senate Bill 1181 being enacted first.

Gov. Jared Polis has issued an executive order which calls for a special session to address the need for an expanded property tax-relief package.

Legislators will work to bring more relief for Colorado residents and businesses and are limited to issues concerning only property taxes.

The session will begin on August 26.

It is projected to last for around three days.

Gov. Greg Abbott has set a special election to fill the seat left open by U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

Rep. Jackson Lee passed away on July 19 due to pancreatic cancer.

She was one of the longest serving members of the Texas congressional delegation and served the 18^th congressional district.

The election has been set to coincide with the November 5, general election.

The winner will fill the seat for the remainder of the term.

The county has recently proposed governance changes through charter reform which will go before voters as a ballot measure this upcoming November.

Some of the proposed changes include expanding the Board of Supervisors from five to nine while also creating a position of an elected County Executive.

The measure would also create an independent ethics commission to further increase transparency and accountability of government officials.

Voters will have an opportunity to vote for this measure come November 5, 2024.

The city of Sacramento recently passed Ordinance 2024-0015, which amends various aspects of the city’s lobbying code.

The definition of lobbyist is amended to lower the compensation threshold of when a contract lobbyist must register from $3,000 to $1,500.

The threshold for a business or organization lobbyist is lowered from 100 hours to 15 hours or more in any three-month period for owners, officers, and employees.

Additional reporting requirements were added for both a contract lobbyist and business or organization lobbyist.

A contract lobbyist must now report the dollar amount of either the received or agreed-upon compensation from each client regarding each legislative or administrative action the lobbyist sought to influence on behalf of the client.

A business or organization lobbyist must now report the dollar amount, in terms of salary or wages, of the time spent by each owner, officer, or employee who conducted lobbying activities for each legislative or administrative action.

Lobbyists must also report all campaign contributions made by a lobbyist (or a client at the lobbyist’s behest) to any city official regardless of the amount.

Finally, the city has passed a gift limit of $10 per calendar month from city lobbyists to any city official. Ordinance 2024-0015 becomes effective July 25.

The Alaska Legislature adjourned sine die on May 16 after pushing through a flurry of bills in the final days.

The Senate adjourned right before the midnight hour on Wednesday while the House continued to work into Thursday morning.

This has raised questions about the legality of those pieces of legislation which were passed after the midnight deadline.

The main focus towards the end of the session was on a few different energy bills, rather than the usual budget negotiations.

The legislature also passed several major policy bills regarding crime, the budget, and education issues.

The Idaho legislative session has come to an end after being extended into the month of April.

Notable legislation passed and signed by Gov. Brad Little includes two campaign finance bills.

House Bill 664 issues guidelines for the use of synthetic media in electioneering communications and requires certain disclosures and disclaimers within such communications.

Senate Bill 1251 amends the definition of political committee by removing language exempting federal PACs from being considered a political committee.

This does affect lobbying reporting.

A lobbyist activity report will now be due on May 15 for the expenditures made during the month of April.

A voter-backed measure, known as Ballot Measure 2, was recently upheld when the Ninth Circuit affirmed a federal judge’s denial of a preliminary injunction blocking it.

The measure requires immediate disclosure of contributions aggregating to more than $2,000 per year.

The decision stems from a previous injunction that was filed back in 2022, by political donors against enforcement of the measure, claiming the initiative’s burdensome disclosure rules would lead to retaliation against them for their political activity.

Chief Judge Mary H. Murguia held the district correctly concluded the plaintiffs argument of first amendment issues was likely to fail and affirmed the lower courts decision.

The legislative session came to an end late in the evening on March 8 after days of debate over the budget.

A unified budget bill was passed and provides funding for nursing homes, preschool for developmentally disabled children, and home services for senior centers.