At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

The General Assembly reconvened for a one-day session on April 3, 2013, to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments.

Up for consideration were 80 bills for which Governor McDonnell offered amendments, including the state’s landmark transportation bill, and six vetoed bills.

The General Assembly accepted a number of the governor’s amendments to the transportation bill, including a reduction of fees on alternative-fuel vehicles and a reduction of lodging and vehicle-titling taxes.

Photo of the Virginia State Capitol by Anderskev on Wikipedia.

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die on April 4, 2013.

Despite approving a budget for fiscal year 2014, lawmakers will need to return for a special session to reauthorize the Medicaid program. Reauthorization efforts stalled due to a dispute over whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

A special session will be needed prior to the start of the fiscal year on July 1 to keep the program funded.

The Idaho Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die on April 4, 2013.

Before adjourning at 11:30 a.m., the Legislature finalized the $1.3 billion public education budget. It failed to pass by one vote at the end of March, with some lawmakers arguing that it codified the Students Come First laws rejected by voters last November.

The House also debated and passed a bill aimed at allowing school districts flexibility in adjusting teacher pay and contracts.

Lobbying

“Internet Association bolsters lobbying force” by Jennifer Martinez in The Hill.

Colorado: “Colorado gun lobbyist says he did nothing to warrant an ethics charge” by Lynn Bartels in the Denver Post.

Georgia: “Deal reported on lobbyist gift reform” by Greg Bluestein and Chris Joyner in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Campaign Finance

“OFA Campaign Finance Reform Push Explained In Call To Supporters” by Paul Blumenthal in the Huffington Post.

Arizona: “Clean Elections’ funding could be returned to ballot” by Sean Peick in the Arizona Republic.

Illinois: “Bernard Schoenburg: Gaps remain in campaign finance reporting rules” – opinion piece by Bernard Schoenburg in the State Journal-Register.

Corporate Political Advocacy

“Poll: Public wary of corporate politics” by Byron Tau in Politico.

Open Government

“New law requires 72 hours of notice for public meetings” by The Associated Press in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

From the State Legislatures

Virginia: “Lacey Putney, longest-serving Va. lawmaker, to retire” by The Associated Press in the Times Dispatch.

The Kentucky Legislature adjourned its regular session on March 26, 2013. In the final hours of the session, lawmakers passed a bill to secure the state’s pension fund; had they been unable to reach an agreement, a special session would have been likely.

However, the House of Representatives’ redistricting plan was not passed. The Kentucky Supreme Court struck down the Legislature’s first attempt at redistricting last year, finding the districts weren’t population-balanced and didn’t comply with the “one person, one vote” mandate.

The Senate decided to wait until next year’s legislative session to tackle redistricting, with leaders saying they wanted to pass both houses’ plans at the same time.

As students from grade school to grad school spend the week away from their studies, members of Congress and state legislatures are also taking time away from contentious issues and floor debates for a spring break of their own. The United States Congress is taking two weeks off to return home.

The legislatures in Alabama, California, Illinois, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania are also in recess this week and, in some cases, next week as well. New York is scheduled to be in its yearly Passover and Easter recess, but budget wrangling is delaying the start of the break.

A handful of states have already completed their spring recess, and Nebraska has a recess scheduled for April.

The Utah Legislature adjourned its 2013 session sine die on March 14, 2013.

Governor Gary Herbert has until April 3 to veto or sign legislation. The Governor does not possess a pocket veto.

The normal effective date for bills passed this year is May 14.

Photo of Utah’s Capitol by Scott Catron on Wikipedia.

Lobbying

“K Street Files: Both Sides Rev Up for Wage War” by Elizabeth Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“K Street’s gravy train runs dry as Georgian leaders move past election” by Kevin Bogardus and Julian Pecquet in The Hill.

“Former Sen. Jon Kyl joins lobby shop at Covington” by Catherine Ho in the Washington Post.

New York: “Best-paid lobbyists, spenders unveiled” by Chris Bragg in Crain’s New York.

Pennsylvania: “Pa.’s Corbett and wife disclose gifts from lobbyists and businesses” by The Associated Press in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pennsylvania: “Corbett’s acceptance of gifts give rise to calls for laws on gift bans” by Jan Murphy in the Patriot-News.

Campaign Finance

“Study shows Super PACs made mockery of campaign law” by Taylor Lincoln in The Hill.

Arizona: “Arizona senate approves contribution limits to recall campaigns” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.

Kentucky: “Ky. House passes bill to publicly finance state SC races” by Jessica M. Karmasek in Legal Newsline.

Ethics

Florida: “Florida lawmakers vote for ethics and early voting changes” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Legislative Issues

Missouri: “Mo. House endorses change to term limits” by The Associated Press in the News Tribune.

South Dakota: “SD Senate approves boost in expenses for lawmakers” in the Rapid City Journal.

Open Government

“Sen. Del Marsh says GOP committee members did not violate Open Meetings Act” by Mike Cason in the Birmingham News.

Redistricting

Kentucky: “House redistricting plan would create new Lexington district” by Jack Brammer and Beth Musgrave in the Lexington Herald-Leader.

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

The General Assembly adjourned sine die on February 23, 2013.

A reconvened session is scheduled to begin April 3, 2013.

At any given time, more than 1,000 legislative bills, which can affect how you do business as a government affairs professional, are being discussed in federal, state, and local jurisdictions. These bills are summarized in the State and Federal Communications’ digital encyclopedias for lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying, and can be found in the client portion of the State and Federal Communications’ website.

Summaries of major bills are also included in monthly e-mail updates sent to all clients. The chart below shows the number of bills we are tracking in regards to lobbying laws, political contributions, and procurement lobbying.

While the 113th Congress is just over a month old, the dynamic of the worlds most deliberative body is still being shaped. Members are retiring early, leaving congress due to legal trouble, pursuing other interests in the private sector, or joining the President’s administration. However, the majority of the legislature is in place, and Bloomberg Businessweek has a fascinating chart breaking down the professions and trades of everyone in congress.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the overwhelming number of members are lawyers. The House boasts 128 lawyers and the Senate adds another 45. The second largest group represented are businesspeople with 130 members total in both bodies. Maybe somewhat surprising is the smaller number of career politicians as only 55 members of the House and 9 members of Senate have spent their professional lives in politics.

Though congress is still largely a male dominated institution (by a margin of 337), women gained a total of six seats while men lost a total of five. Among the demographic groups with the greatest amount of change were businesspeople with a net loss of 7 seats, the entertainment industry with a net gain of 3 seats, educators with a net gain of 2 seats, and lawyers with a net gain of 2 seats. Click the image to the right to see a larger version of Businessweek’s chart.

Note: These numbers don’t include appointments and changes made in recent weeks.

Campaign Finance

“Ex-Bachmann aide alleges campaign finance violations” by Kevin Diaz in the Star Tribune.

Florida: “Support mounts to allow unlimited political contributions in Florida” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Miami Herald.

Florida: “Florida ethics rules come under Senate committee spotlight” by Matt Dixon in the Florida Times-Union.

Utah: “John Swallow accusations prompt call for ethics, campaign finance reform” by Dennis Romboy in the Deseret News.

Virginia: “Va. AG Cuccinelli will defy tradition, stay on job while campaigning” by David Hill in the Washington Times.

Lobbying

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“Chamber, union leaders mull alliance to press for immigration reform” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Florida: “Sweeping ethics bill would curtail lobbying by lawmakers” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Georgia:  “Lieutenant governor will abide by Senate’s $100 gift cap” by Kristina Torres in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Legislative Issues

Montana:  “New lawmaker launches video about 1st days in state Legislature” by John Grant Emeigh in the Billings Gazette.

New Mexico “Mary Kay Papen elected Senate leader” by Steve Terrell in the Santa Fe New Mexican.