The Legislature ended a two-week extraordinary apportionment session on Tuesday, March 27, 2012. Governor Rick Scott called the special session to redraw the map of new Senate districts. The redistricting plan now goes to the Florida Supreme Court to decide whether the upper chamber did enough to fix the flaws in the first map that provoked the court’s rebuke.

At least one campaign sent out a fundraising note the next day congratulating the Legislature for its hard work during an elongated session, and asking for donations to make up for lost time. State law prohibits lawmakers from accepting campaign contributions while the Legislature is in session.

Photo of the Old and New Florida Capitol buildings by Infrogmation on Wikipedia.

Lawmakers began the 2012 Special Session I last week to consider budget bills including a two-year, $85 billion proposal.

The special session was convened immediately upon adjournment sine die of the 2012 regular session, but was in recess until Wednesday, March 21st.

The House and Senate adjourned in the afternoon on March 21st and will again convene this afternoon on Monday, March 26th to continue the special session.

No person or PAC may make or promise to make a contribution to a member of the general assembly, the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, or their campaign committees, during the annual regular session of the general assembly. This ban does not apply to contributions during special sessions.

Photo of the Virginia State Capitol by Amadeust on Wikipedia.

Campaign Finance

“The Super PAC Paradox” by Eliza Newlin Carney in Roll Call.

“The year’s busiest day of campaign fundraising shows how Springfield really works” by Ray Long and Alissa Groeninger in the Chicago Tribune.

“Group to appeal Iowa campaign finance ruling” by The Associated Press in the Globe Gazette.

Lobbying

“Retiring lawmakers openly eye K Street” by Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman in Politico.

“Lobbying pays off big for business” by Toluse Olorunnipa in the Miami Herald.

“Facebook ‘friends’ a new lobby firm” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.

FLORIDA: The 2012 session of the Florida legislature adjourned on Friday, March 9th. Governor Rick Scott now has 15 days to sign or veto legislation, or the legislation will become law without his signature. Additionally, Governor Scott has called the legislature back to Tallahassee for a special session, set to begin Wednesday, March 14th. The session is slated to deal with the Florida Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the legislature’s redistricting plan for the state Senate.

INDIANA: Lawmakers concluded the 2012 legislative session at nearly 2:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 10th.

VIRGINIA: The General Assembly concluded the 2012 legislative session on Saturday, March 10, 2012. The assembly introduced 2,875 bills during the 60-day legislative session. Nearly 1,600 passed, and the Governor has already signed over 200 into law.

WEST VIRGINIA: The legislature of West Virginia adjourned sine die shortly before midnight on Saturday, March 10, 2012. The legislature then reconvened shortly thereafter on Sunday, March 11, 2012, to begin work on the 2012 extended budget session.

ARKANSAS: The fiscal session of the Arkansas General Assembly adjourned at noon on Friday, March 9, 2012.

OREGON: The Oregon Legislative Assembly has adjourned sine die for the 2012 regular session on March 5.

UTAH: The 2012 general session of the Utah State Legislature adjourned sine die on March 8, ending on its 45th day, the last permitted by the Constitution for annual general sessions. Governor Gary Herbert has until March 28 to sign or veto bills presented to him by the legislature.

WASHINGTON: The 2012 regular session of the Washington State Legislature adjourned sine die on March 8, 2012. Governor Gregoire has called for a special session to begin on March 12, 2012 to address a supplemental budget plan.

WYOMING: The State of Wyoming Legislature adjourned sine die on March 8. Governor Matt Mead has until March 26 to sign or veto legislation that reaches his desk.

Many thanks to our terrific Research Department for this update!

Alabama: “Alabama lawmakers return for 2012 regular session” by Bob Johnson (Associated Press) in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Arizona: “Monday is deadline to introduce bills in AZ House” by The Associated Press in the Arizon Capitol Times.

California: “Initiative would make Legislature part time, slash its pay” by Patrick McGreevy in the Los Angeles Times.

“California Legislators Turn in Keys to their Cars” by Karl Kurtz on NCSL’s blog The Thicket.

Oklahoma: “Okla. State Legislature Begins 2012 Session” by Homa Quazilbash on KTUL.com

Oregon: “Oregon Politics: Legislative session starts with big concepts and some lawmakers under scrutiny” by Jeff Mapes in The Oregonian

Virginia: “Va. legislators accepted $246,000 in gifts last year” by Anita Kumar in the Washington Post.

House Resolution 1140 has set the meeting dates and dates of adjournment for the 2012 regular session of the General Assembly for the period of Friday, January 27, 2012, through Monday, March 12, 2012.

The Assembly will generally be in session during the week and in adjournment during each weekend.

The resolution also schedules adjournment for Monday, February 13, Tuesday, February 14, Thursday, March 1, Friday, March 2, Thursday, March 8, and Friday, March 9.

Any additional periods of adjournment will be set by subsequent resolutions.

State Senator Doug Stoner has proposed legislation that would remove control of ethics enforcement from the General Assembly by making the state’s ethics commission an independent agency.

Senate Bill 315 would also change the name of the Georgia Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission to the Georgia Ethics Commission.

The commission would be appointed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court and the chief judge of the Georgia Court of Appeals. Currently, members are appointed by legislators and the governor.

Take a look at this news item on NCSL’s blog, The Thicket: “TVW Introduces SCOUT” by Jan Goehring.

According to the post: “TVW, the Washington state public affairs network, is offering an innovative service to citizens who want to follow public policy issues and the legislative process. This new tool, called SCOUT, allows the public to easily keep track of issues. SCOUT will track video and bill information and automatically send it to those who open a free account.”

You can find the link to TVW here, and find out more about SCOUT at this link.

Photo of the Washington State Capitol dome by Tradnor on Wikipedia.

As a kick-off to their 2012 General Assembly, the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission will be hosting Jack Abramoff as a speaker during their training session on ethics.

Abramoff will be paid $5,000 plus expenses. He will be speaking on January 4, 2012.

You can read about it in “Ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff to speak at Kentucky legislative ethics session” by Tom Loftus in the Courier-Journal.

A post on NCSL’s The Thicket has a list of changes in top legislative staff positions. Even though it is not an election year, there has been an unusual number of replacements among the top staff in many states.

Among these top staffers is Tim Massanelli who is retiring after over 35 years of serving as Arkansas House Parliamentarian and Laura Clemens, clerk of the Ohio House, who has left that position to become director of government affairs for the Ohio Casino Control Commission.

See the full list here.

The 17 day special session which convened on November 28, 2011 adjourned late on December 14, 2011.

State lawmakers in Louisiana will be going through what has been called a “crash course” in the craft of lawmaking.

Be sure to read “Newest Louisiana legislators will get crash course in their new roles” by Ed Anderson in the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

The article says, “[House Clerk Alfred] Speer said the House’s agenda will include mock committee meeting and floor sessions, as well as discussions of ethics laws, parliamentary procedure, introduction to legislative staff, key dates for filing bills, and one called ‘Norms of Behavior or How to Operate within the House and Keep Your Integrity and Sanity.'”

You can find the Web Portal for the Louisiana State Legislature here.

Photo of the Louisiana State Capitol by Bluepoint951 on Wikipedia.

NORTH CAROLINA:  A special session of the North Carolina General Assembly convened Sunday evening.

The session is scheduled to adjourn on Tuesday, November 29, 2011.

The session was called to consider bills vetoed by Governor Bev Perdue, revise redistricting plans, and address election law bills.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikipedia.