The Oklahoma Legislature called a concurrent legislative session to begin May 18 concerning $1.8 billion in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) fund spending.

The special session will also cover $698 million in Large-scale Economic Activity and Development Act (LEAD Act) allocations to pursue Project Ocean, which state officials described as an economic development project that is considering Oklahoma for a major manufacturing operation.

The concurrent session can keep going after the regular session adjourns, which must be done by 5 p.m. Friday, May 27.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting dates.

The Alaska Legislature adjourned sin die late Wednesday after finally coming to an agreement on the state’s budget bill.

Lawmakers set this year’s dividend for each resident at $3,200 from Alaska’s Permanent Fund, a fund derived from the state’s oil and gas reserves.

The Legislature failed to pass new campaign contribution limits to replace the ones found to be unconstitutional earlier this year.

Alaska’s regulatory body, the Alaska Public Offices Commission, punted the responsibility to lawmakers after refusing to resurrect old contribution limits.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

A lobbyist monthly report will be due June 30, covering May 1 through May 31.

The Vermont General Assembly adjourned sine die on Thursday, May 12.

Lawmakers passed Vermont’s first statewide ethics code with new gift limits and a revolving door provision applicable to legislative employees.

Bills related to campaign finance were introduced, but not passed.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The South Carolina Legislature adjourned on Thursday, May 12.

Passed bills included early voting procedures and expanded access to birth control.

The Legislature will meet again in a special session scheduled to be held June 15 focusing on the state budget and any bills vetoed by the governor.

The 73^rd Colorado General Assembly adjourned sine die May 11.

During the session, legislation related to campaign finance was introduced. House Bill 1060 was passed, creating aggregate limits on candidates for school district director from persons other than small donor committees for any regular biennial or special school election of $2,500. Further, a $25,000 limit was established for contributions to candidates for school district director from small donor committees for any regular biennial or special school election. The bill takes effect July 1.

Additionally, Senate Bill 237 relating to ballot measure expenditures was introduced and passed through both chambers as of May 10. The bill would expand the definition of earmark for purposes of the Fair Campaign Practices Act to include contributions or expenditures greater than $1,000 to support or oppose a specified ballot issue or ballot question. Further, the bill would modify the process to determine whether an organization is an issue committee to include an examination of the organization’s pattern of conduct. Additionally, any person who makes a expends $5,000 in aggregate in a calendar year on direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure expenditures must report to the secretary of state, and any person who makes a direct ballot issue or ballot question expenditure must disclose their name in certain communications about a ballot issue or ballot question. If passed, portions of the bill would become effective immediately and the section providing for disclosure to the secretary of state of $5,000 spent by an individual in a calendar year would become effective September 1.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The second regular session of the 130^th Maine Legislature adjourned sine die on May 9.

Two campaign finance bills were passed during the session and signed by the governor.

Legislative Document 1782, effective January 1, 2023, permits business entities to contribute the paid staff time of its employees to the entity’s separate segregated fund committee.

Legislative Document 1754 amends the state’s major contributor disclosure law and will take effect on August 8.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

A registered lobbyist who anticipates no further lobbying for a client may file a request for a non-session waiver with their final monthly report for the session due June 15.

The Hawaii Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die May 5.

During the session, several bills related to campaign finance were introduced.

House Bill 1423, with its last action on March 18, was introduced but has not passed.

The bill set out to increase the fine for campaign spending law violations against a noncandidate committee making only independent expenditures and that has received at least one contribution of more than $10,000, or spent more than $10,000 in an election period.

House Bill 1423 would have allowed the campaign spending commission to order that the fine be up to three times the amount of the unlawful contribution or expenditure, and that the payment of the fine assessed against a noncandidate committee, or any portion thereof, be paid from the personal funds of an officer of the noncandidate committee.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The 2022 session of the Connecticut General Assembly adjourned on May 4.

Lawmakers passed a state budget including more than $600 million in tax cuts, made Juneteenth a state holiday, and dedicated $300 million toward fighting the opioid epidemic.

Bills related to campaign consultants, municipal campaign finance filings, and banning foreign money in state elections were introduced but not passed.

This does affect lobbyist reporting dates.

The monthly employer activity report required any month the General Assembly is in regular session is due June 10

The Kansas Legislature adjourned its special veto session just after 2 a.m. on April 29.

During the recently concluded veto session, the Legislature passed the omnibus spending bill to fund public schools and special education.

Typically, upon veto adjournment, the Legislature sets sine die, the last official day of the session. This year, the Legislature set a date to return of May 23, leaving the session open in case court rulings on congressional maps would require further legislative action.

This does not affect lobbying dates.

The 107th Nebraska Legislature adjourned sine die on April 20 after 60 days in session.

Due to term limits, 11 senators are leaving the Legislature and an additional two decided not to seek reelection. The term limit senators include Henderson Sen. Curt Friesen, Lincoln Sen. Matt Hansen, Omaha Sen. Robert Hilkemann, Venango Sen. Dan Hughes, Seward Sen. Mark Koltermann. Creighton Sen. Tim Gragert and Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop chose not to run for reelection.

During the session, legislation to provide Nebraskans with a record $3.4 billion in tax relief by 2027 passed. Other legislation related to lobbying and campaign finance that would have prohibited a school board of an education service unit from authorizing a lobbyist to act on its behalf without a current contract for lobbing services was introduced but not passed.

Lobbying reporting dates are not affected by adjournment. The 2023 session is scheduled to convene January 4.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called for a special session to consider legislation related to property insurance.

This session will convene on May 23 and adjourn no later than May 27.

The main purpose of the special session is to make changes to the Florida Building Code in order to improve the affordability of property insurance prior to the next Atlantic hurricane season.

West Virginia’s special session adjourned on April 26.

Lawmakers planned on dealing with 17 bills, but many did not pass.

The most debated bill was Senate Bill 2001, which eventually passed after being vetoed by the governor due to technical errors.

The bill appropriates $250 million to be used to upgrade infrastructure in municipalities of the state.

The 2022 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die on April 14.

A campaign finance and an ethics bill passed with a veto override.

House Bill 740 reduces transparency in campaign finance by removing the requirement that candidates report the name and employer of the spouse of the donor for donations over $100 and permitting candidates for legislative office to file annual instead of quarterly campaign finance reports in years they are not running for reelection.

The bill also removes references to paper filing and defines form as an online web page or an electronic document.

House Bill 334 reorganizes the Executive Branch Ethics Commission and requires it to make a finding for each complaint filed, as to whether they are grounded in fact, warranted by law, and filed in good faith.

Both bills are effective July 13.

The 444^th Maryland General Assembly adjourned from its 90-day session on April 11 with over 600 bills being passed as of Monday morning.

Passed legislation includes a compromise increasing local budgets for highway repairs, additional measures to enhance Maryland’s cybersecurity response, and bills aimed toward accelerating the state’s greenhouse gas reduction goals.