Governor Mark Dayton and the leaders of the state legislature have tentatively agreed on August 24 for a special session date. The legislature will convene in order to appropriate monies to disaster relief for counties that were ravaged by flooding earlier this year.

The date is still tentative as the final damage numbers are still being totaled. The federal government will supply 75% of the funding if the state picks up the last 25% of the cost.

Once the final numbers are set, Governor Dayton will have to officially call the legislature back to work.

Governor Martin O’Malley has announced a special session of the general assembly. The session, scheduled to begin August 9, 2012, is for the purpose of considering a new casino in Prince George’s County and table games at the state’s five other slots locations.

If approved by the Legislature, the gambling expansion would also need voter approval. Proponents hope to pass legislation in time for the issue to appear on this November’s ballot.

Photo of Governor Martin O’Malley by Jay Baker in Wikipedia.

The Louisiana Legislature has decided not to convene a session to consider overturning Governor Bobby Jindal’s vetoes.

The veto session, which is automatically set upon a governor vetoing a bill, was scheduled for July 14. A majority of Senate members voted in writing against holding the session. A majority is required from either the House or Senate to cancel a session.

The Legislature had adjourned sine die on June 4.

DELAWARE: The Delaware General Assembly adjourned sine die early in the morning on July 1, 2012.

NORTH CAROLINA: The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned on July 3, 2012.

Campaign Finance

“Campaign money case could propel more deregulation” by Jack Gillum on CBS News.

“Inquiry Looks Into a Shield for Donors in Elections” by Nicholas Confessore in The New York Times.

“Social Fundraising Platform Rally Grows With A New Round of $7.9 Million” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

“Will Ct. now see gusher of campaign bucks?” by Ken Dixon in the Connecticut Post.

Lobbying

“K Street Files: Lobbyists Prep for SCOTUS Ruling” by Kate Ackley in Roll Call.

“Lobbying World” in The Hill.

“The lion’s aide on K Street” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

“Hawaii professional employer organizations to form lobbying group” by Lynn Nakagawa in the Pacific Business News.

Government Ethics

“Outsider Privy to Ethics Case” by Amanda Becker in Roll Call.

Georgia: “Candidates late, confused on filing requirements” by Crystal Tatum in the Newton Citizen.

From the State Legislatures

“Cook, Rove, Zandi Address Legislators at June 2012 Leaders Meeting” by Alex Fitzsimmons on NCSL’s The Thicket.

Illinois: “Illinois lawmakers consider expulsion of Rep. Derrick Smith” by The Associated Press in the State Journal-Register.

Oklahoma:  “Oklahoma elections: Most incumbent House members win contests” by Michael McNutt in The Oklahoman.

Open Government

“R.I. open-government advocates hail improvement to public-records law” by Karen Lee Ziner in the Providence Journal.

The New York Legislature ended the working portion of its year late Friday night.

Legislative members will now head back to their respective districts to campaign in an election season that will see all 212 general assembly and senate seats up for grabs.

There is a chance that both houses could be called back to Albany for a special session following the November elections, but at this time, that does not appear to be a likely scenario.

Campaign Finance

“Campaign donations coming soon to Twitter” by Dave Levinthal in Politico.

“No action from U.S. Supreme Court on Montana campaign spending law” by Charles S. Johnson in the Missoulian.

“Will the Supreme Court Consider a Campaign Finance Mulligan?” by Alex Altman in Time.

“Texting: The New Way for Campaigns to Draw Contributions” by Kenneth P. Doyle in Bloomberg News.

Government Ethics

Louisiana: “Ethics bills: Jindal signs two, vetoes one” in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

Ohio: “Former state lawmaker sentenced to prison for bribery” by John Futty in the Columbus Dispatch.

State Legislatures

“State lawmakers short on experience” by Chuck Raasch in USA Today.

“Herbert calls special session to OK more liquor licenses, fixed funding” by Ed Gehrke in the Salt Lake Tribune.

“SC legislators return for special session” by The Associated Press in GoUpstate.com.

“Ethics Commission offers new campaign finance search tool” by Mike Lear in MissouriNet.

“2 Campaigns Chasing Funds at Frantic Pace” by Ashley Parker and Helene Cooper.

“Entrepreneurs, small lobby shops challenging K Street’s old guard” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Arkansas:  “Backers optimistic about ethics measure; GOP lawmaker questions proposal” by Jeff Arnold in the Arkansas News.

Connecticut: “Connecticut lawmakers return for special session” by Susan Haigh (Associated Press) in the Norwich Bulletin.

“Sunlight Foundation Unveils New Legislative Alert Service, Monitoring Action On Capitol Hill And All 50 States” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

“More on Legislative Turnover” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket.

Arizona: “Fewer candidates vie for Arizona Legislature” by Mary Jo Pitzl in The Arizona Republic.

Maryland: “Maryland Becomes 40th State to Ratify 17th Amendment” by Karl Kurtz in The Thicket.

Redistricting

Alabama: “Inside the Statehouse: New district lines won’t change legislature” by Steve Flowers in the Jacksonville News.

Alaska: “Lawsuit claims redistricting procedure violates federal law” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Illinois: “Ill. Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to state legislative remap” by Dave McKinney in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kansas:  “In Kansas redistricting, new boundaries quickly bring new faces” by Dave Helling in the Kansas City Star.

Missouri: “Missouri senator will pursue redistricting changes” by The Associated Press in the Kansas City Star.

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol by Nikopoley in Wikipedia.

The Connecticut General Assembly will convene a special session at 11 a.m. today, June 12, 2012.

House speaker Chris Donovan will not be presiding over the session, instead allowing the house majority leader to handle the leadership responsibilities after Speaker Donovan’s former campaign finance manager was arrested for allegedly conspiring to conceal the source of $20,000 in campaign contributions. The contributions were purportedly linked to a bill imposing taxes on roll-your-own cigarette businesses, which is expected to be voted on during today’s session.

Speaker Donovan does plan to participate in the session.

Photo of the Connecticut State Capitol by jglazer75 on Wikipedia.

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its legislative session early Friday morning, but not before both houses approved a bill aimed at curtailing super PAC influence in state elections.

Senate Bill 3722 would eliminate the campaign contribution limits in any races in which a natural person or independent expenditure committee makes independent expenditures for the benefit of the campaign of a particular public official or candidate in an aggregate amount, during an election cycle, of more than $250,000 for statewide office or $100,000 for all other elective offices.

Therefore, if a PAC spends more than $250,000 in independent expenditures during an election cycle for a candidate for governor, then there will be no contribution limits for any of the gubernatorial candidates. The bill will now go to Governor Pat Quinn’s desk to await his signature or veto.

Even though the Legislature has adjourned, Governor Quinn announced that he will continue to work on an overhaul of the state’s pension system with leaders from both sides of the aisle. Once they come to an agreement on a bipartisan bill, Governor Quinn said he would call both houses back for a special session during the summer.

Also, the typical legislative schedule will have the legislators reporting back to Springfield in November for a session to deal with any bills that Governor Quinn decides to veto.

Photo of the Illinois Capitol Building courtesy of Martin Davis on Wikipedia.

House District 28 is vacant following the resignation of Michael Harden.

The Secretary of State’s office has notified local officials to inform them there will not be a special election because the House is not in session.

The seat will be an open one on the ballot for the July 31st primary and for the November 6th general election.

Campaign Finance

New Mexico: “King Appeals Ruling on PAC Donations” by James Monteleone in the Albuquerque Journal.

Lobbying

“Ex-lawmakers on K Street avoid ‘Scarlet L,’ shy away from registering as lobbyists” by Kevin Bogardus and Rachel Leven in The Hill.

“Common Cause complaint: ALEC skirting lobbying laws” by Beth Hawkins in MinnPost.com.

“Sports Lobby Is a Multi-Million-Dollar Enterprise” by Laurie Bennett in First Street.

Phildaelphia, PA: “Blackwell, others fined for campaign violations” by Catherine Lucey in the Philadelphia Daily News.

Washington: “Washington State Public Disclosure Commission adds lobbying data to online database” in the Maple Valley Reporter.

Ethics

Arizona: “State legislator Arredondo indicted in FBI sting” by JJ Hensley, Mary Jo Pitzl, and Craig Harris in The Arizona Republic.

Missouri: “Spence criticized for handing out sports tickets to lawmakers” by Jake Wagman in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania governor, lawmakers report gifts, travel” by John L. Micek in The Morning Call.

From the State Legislatures

Alabama: “Bentley calls special session to address redistricting” by Sebastian Kitchen in the Montgomery Advertiser.

California: “California’s Prop. 28 would let legislative leaders serve longer stints” by Jim Sanders in the Sacramento Bee.

State lawmakers have reported back to Augusta to finish the work they started on the budget earlier this year.

In this short budget session, the Legislature will discuss Governor Paul LePage’s line item vetoes of the state budget, the budget of Health and Human Services, a takings bill, and a few borrowing packages.