Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced March 31 he will call a special legislative session within two to three weeks to deal with growing COVID-19 concerns.

Gov. Herbert said several items will be at issue during the special session.

Items include extending the state’s personal income tax filing deadline from April 15 to July 15, and potentially opening the state’s General and Education funds.

It is unclear whether Gov. Herbert will ask lawmakers to take steps dealing with the spring and summer election deadlines.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

When the special session is called, all restrictions on contributions from individuals, lobbyists, principals, and political committees will apply.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Georgia Campaign Finance Commission’s physical office is closed.

The commission is no longer accepting paper registrations or payment of registration fees via mail.

All completed lobbyist new registrations and supplemental registrations must be submitted by email.

Lobbyists will then need to log into their e-file account to process the online payment for those new registrations and/or supplemental registration.

Lobbyist ID photos will be taken and badges issued once the physical office reopens.

After reconvening from the scheduled spring break, the Alabama Legislature has decided to suspend the legislative session.

The session is suspended as of March 31, due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.

Upon reconvening on April 28, the Legislature will have until May 18 to complete any pending legislation.

Legislation includes the constitutionally mandated budget bill for the fiscal year starting on October 1.

Due to the social distancing restrictions being implemented by the City of Austin, the Office of the City Clerk has closed to members of the public.

Correspondence and payments pertaining to lobbyist registrations/renewals may still be mailed in and will be processed based on their postage date.

Operations are continuing via telework, and employees may be reached via email.

The Colorado House and Senate convened for one day on March 30.

However, lawmakers took different approaches to returning from the General Assembly’s COVID-19 recess.

The House recessed until Thursday, April 2.

Lawmakers in the House based their decision on the constitutional provision allowing for a three-day recess without formal agreement from both chambers.

The Senate, however, postponed indefinitely based on another interpretation.

The Senate interpretation allows the General Assembly to remain recessed without setting an exact date to reconvene.

On April 2, the House is expected to meet briefly and recess again for an unspecified period of time.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Additionally, the General Assembly is still considered to be in regular session for purposes of restrictions on contributions from lobbyists during the session, as the General Assembly has not adjourned sine die.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission has rescheduled its public hearing on proposed administrative rules concerning amendments to state lobbying and gift laws for May 7.

Due to COVID-19 concerns, the original date of March 19 was postponed.

The proposals include:

• Clarifications as to what activities constitute lobbying
• Exclusions from lobbyist registration requirements
• A requirement that expenditures be reported on an accrual rather than cash basis

Additionally, the proposals would amend prohibitions on certain kinds of gifts, valuation of gifts, and gift disclosure statements.

On March 26, the General Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador agreed to adjourn parliamentary business until an unspecified future date.

The adjournment is in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

The legislature will remain adjourned until the call of the Chair, the procedure for recalling lawmakers into session. 

The Office of the County Attorney announced emergency regulations extending the deadline for filing first quarter lobbyist reports.

This comes in response to the COVID-19 outbreak and current state of emergency.

The deadline for lobbyist reports covering activity for the period of January 1 to March 31 is extended until May 15.

The anticipated start date of April 7, 2020, for the Legislative Assembly of Prince Edward Island has been postponed until a date to be determined due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaker Colin LaVie suspended the Spring Sitting of the Legislature based on recommendations of the province’s chief public health officer.

LaVie intends to call the legislature into session after consultation with the other parliamentary leaders as the situation evolves.

As of March 30, committees of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, such as the Public Account Committee, continue to meet using videoconferencing.

Some of the committee videoconferencing is available for the public to view live on the Assembly’s website.

On March 23, lawmakers had adjourned their Spring Session to a date they have not yet determined.

Legislators will reconvene at their physical legislative building when the Speaker of the House, after consultation with the government, determines the public interest requires it or when advised by the government.

On October 1, the Yukon Legislative Assembly is scheduled to convene, having recessed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

On March 19, the legislature adjourned its Spring Session earlier than the scheduled April 16 end-of-session date, while still staying late on its last day to complete consideration of Bill No. 203, a fiscal appropriation act for the territory.

“These are unusual times that call for unusual measures,” said Speaker Hon. Nils Clarke said in his press release.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced the suspension of the Lobbying Random Audit Program to avoid unnecessary administrative burden during the COVID-19 emergency.

Effective immediately, no new audits will be initiated by JCOPE until further notice.

Complying with ongoing audits is voluntary until the commission resumes the audit program.

Any questions regarding this policy should be emailed to helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov, with ‘Audit’ in the subject line.

Due to the COVID-19 emergency, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced a deadline extension for all lobbying filings until April 15.

The extension includes bimonthly reports covering activity for the reporting period of January to February 2020.

JCOPE also announced temporary procedures regarding hand delivery of report filings and checks.

Until further notice, visitors are not allowed into the JCOPE offices. Beginning April 15, JCOPE will accept hand delivery of lobbying filings.

However, the commission is not accepting hand delivery of checks until further notice.

Instead, any checks should be submitted either by mail or by submitting the filing through the online Lobbying Application using a credit card to pay the submission fee.

If neither option is possible, JCOPE asks filers to hold all checks for hand delivery until further notice.

State Senate President Donna Soucy and Speaker of the House Stephen Shurtleff announced the General Court has extended the suspension of all legislative activities through May 4.

During this time, the State House is closed to legislative members, legislative staff, and visitors.

The announcement is in conjunction with Governor Chris Sununu’s emergency stay-at-home order due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.