House Speaker Mike Turzai announced a special election for House District 190.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Movita Johnson-Harrell, a Philadelphia Democrat, resigned.

Johnson-Harrell was indicted for allegedly embezzling over a half million dollars from her charity, Motivations Education and Consultation Associates (MECA).

The special election will be held on February 25.

Secretary of State Nellie M. Gorbea has announced special election dates for Rhode Island House District 56.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Shelby Maldonado, a Providence Democrat, resigned to be Hispanic Outreach Director for the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

Assuming more than one candidate from either major party qualifies for the ballot, the special primary election will be held on Tuesday, February 4.

The general election will be held on Tuesday, March 3.

Senator and former Yauco Mayor Abel Nazario was arrested and indicted on November 6, 2019, on federal corruption charges.

Nazario is accused of using money from government programs receiving federal funds to pay people to work on his senatorial campaign.

Nazario, a member of the majority New Progressive Party (PNP), was previously arrested in 2018 for mandating employees work without pay.

He was later accused of withholding wages in retaliation.

Nazario maintains his innocence and is refusing to step down.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills issued a proclamation calling for a special legislative session to be held on Monday, August 26.

The session will be used to consider bond proposals in transportation; infrastructure and economic development; environmental protection; and land conservation totaling $163 million.

The transportation proposal provides $105 million to upgrade roads, bridges, ports, rail and air transportation, and to repair culverts and restore a commercial fishing wharf.

The infrastructure and economic development proposal provides $23 million to be divided among education centers, the National Guard, and high-speed internet access in rural Maine.

The environmental protection proposal provides $15 million to be divided among the Department of Environmental Protection, the improvement of municipal wastewater infrastructures, and the Heating Fuels Efficiency and Weatherization Fund to provide low-interest loans for energy efficiency projects, including heat pumps for residential homeowners.

The land conservation proposal provides $20 million for the Land for Maine’s Future program to be dispersed over two years to preserve farmland, working waterfronts, and other natural resources.

Proposals passed during the special session will appear on the ballot on November 5.

Bonds need a two-thirds vote in each chamber to pass.

Gov. Mike Parson has scheduled a special legislative session to begin on September 9.

Parsons hopes to see legislation passed allowing individuals to count the sales earning of multiple vehicles as credits against the sales tax of a replacement vehicle.

Revenue officials had allowed this until a June Missouri Supreme Court ruling said current law only permits a single vehicle to count for the tax credit.

The session is unlikely to cost the state much as it coincides with an already scheduled annual veto session on September 11.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills has called a special session to begin on Monday, August 26.

Mills hopes the Legislature will pass four bond bills totaling $163 million to raise funds for a variety of infrastructure projects.

The Legislature rejected a more ambitious bond proposal backed by Mills before its June adjournment.

Gov. Greg Abbott has scheduled a November 5 special election for House District 148.

The Houston seat’s representative, Democrat Jessica Farrar, has served in the Texas House for 25 years, but is stepping down to care for her mother.

The special election will be on the same day as the state’s general municipal elections.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) launched new search function capabilities from its lobbying application.

JCOPE website users can now choose “Lobbying Focus” to search for recorded lobbying on specific bills, resolutions, and regulations at both the state and municipal levels.

The new “Parties Lobbied” tool allows users to see which specific agencies or lawmakers were lobbied and on what subject.

The public search is available at https://jcope.ny.gov/lobby-data-demand.

The Alabama Ethics Commission issued an advisory opinion finding employees of airport authorities are public employees and therefore subject to the state ethics law.

Attorneys for the Birmingham and Huntsville airport authorities argued airport employees are private because they are paid with funds generated by the airport.

However, the commission ruled the airport’s revenue is considered “state, county, or municipal funds” because the Legislature grants the airport authority the ability to collect those fees for a specific purpose.

Airport employees are criminally liable for ethics violations and, if they meet specific income thresholds, are required to file annual statements with the commission.

The Birmingham Airport Authority intends to appeal to the Montgomery County Circuit Court.

The Supreme Court of the territory ruled unanimously that Pedro Pierluisi’s swearing in as governor was unconstitutional and ordered him to resign by 5 p.m.

Last week, then-Governor Ricardo Rosello appointed Pierluisi Secretary of State in order to assume office after Rosello’s planned resignation.

However, Pierluisi only received a confirmation vote in the House of Representatives.

This complied with a 2005 legislative amendment, but the court ruled it violated Puerto Rico’s constitution, which mandates confirmation from both of the territory’s legislative bodies.

Rosello’s Secretary of Justice Wanda Vazquez was next in line for the governorship, but said she did not want the position.

After the court’s ruling, though, Vazquez said she will assume the governorship in order to provide the island certainty and stability.

The City Council unanimously passed Ordinance 2019-26, instituting several major changes to city ethics law.

The ordinance establishes an ethics board, to be staffed by an independent panel of retired judges, to investigate potential violations and conflicts of interests.

Additionally, the ordinance bars gifts to city councilmembers valued over $300

Just days after vowing to complete his term, Gov. Ricardo Rosello announced he will resign on August 2.

Rosello, who already was weathering accusations of embezzlement, faced widespread protests this month when the Center for Investigative Journalism published over 800 pages from a leaked private group chat.

In the chat, Rosello used derogatory slurs about stateside politicians and institutions, joked about assassinating a political opponent, and made light of the death toll from Hurricane Maria.

Wanda Vazquez, a fellow New Progressive and the current secretary of justice, will take the governorship when Rosello leaves office.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched in San Juan during a territory-wide strike to call for the resignation of Governor Ricardo Rosello.

Rosello was already facing accusations of embezzlement when the Center for Investigative Journalism published over 800 pages from a leaked private group chat where the governor used derogatory slurs about stateside politicians and institutions, joked about assassinating a political opponent, and made light of the death toll from Hurricane Maria.

Rosello, who’s administration has received over $92 billion in federal aid, has resigned from the New Progressive Party and dropped his re-election bid; however, he is vowing to finish his current term in office.

State utility regulators at the Arizona Corporation Commission approved a new code of ethics.

The new code prohibits commissioners from ruling on issues involving interested parties that have given them direct campaign donations.

Only commissioners that publicly finance their campaigns may make rulings on issues regarding interested parties with employees or owners that gave them personal donations.