The Arkansas Legislature will return from its extended recess on September 29, continuing the regular session of the 93rd General Assembly.

According to the schedule released by Senate President Pro Tempore Jimmy Hickey, the General Assembly will return to vote on redistricting before adjourning the 2021 session sine die.

After each census, the state redraws the boundaries for seats in the General Assembly as well as the boundaries of the districts for its seats in the United States Congress.

The legislative districts are decided by the Board of Apportionment, which consists of the governor, secretary of state, and attorney general. The board and its staff use census data to redraw the 100 districts of the Arkansas House of Representatives and the 35 districts of the Arkansas Senate so districts within each chamber represent roughly the same number of people.

Drawing boundaries for the state’s federal congressional districts is the responsibility of the General Assembly. The number of districts in the state will remain at four based on the population count from 2020, but the distribution of the population has shifted away from rural areas toward more urban areas.

A registered lobbyist who lobbies members of the General Assembly is required to file a monthly report due 10 days after the end of the month for any month the General Assembly is in session.

Hickey stated he hoped the General Assembly would continue for only three days, meaning the session will likely continue into the month of October. If the session continues into October, a monthly lobbyist activity report will be due November 10, which is 10 days after the end of the month.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds issued a proclamation to convene a special legislative session on October 5 to consider and enact a plan of legislative and congressional districting.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Alaska Legislature adjourned the third special session on September 14 after passing House Bill 3003.

The bill allocates $1,100 to each eligible Alaskan from the Permanent Fund Dividend.

While the third session did resolve one problem, there are other questions left on the table.

To answer them, Gov. Mike Dunleavy announced he will call a fourth special session beginning October 1 to address issues with the state’s financial structure and the Permanent Fund Dividend.

The California Legislature adjourned late last week, just in time for today’s recall election of Gov. Newsom.

The trifecta government passed close to 900 bills this year as Democratic lawmakers utilized a budget surplus to enact many progressive policies such as police reform, health care for undocumented immigrants, and climate change.

Assembly bills 319 and 1367 are on Newsom’s desk awaiting signature.

AB 319 prevents a foreign government or principal from making a contribution or expenditure to a candidate for state or local office.

While AB 1367, raises the penalty for a person who uses campaign funds that results in an egregious personal benefit to an amount up to three times the amount of the unlawful expenditure.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced she is calling a special legislative session to adopt the new congressional and legislative district maps.

The session will commence September 20, leaving the Legislature seven days to finalize the maps before the September 27 deadline.

Lawmakers have an arduous task during this special session as Oregon added an additional congressional district as a result of the 2020 census.

The first special session of the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die on September 9.

Lawmakers passed five bills in the three days of the special session shifting power away from Gov. Andy Beshear to local governments to address the pandemic.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Illinois House of Representatives has returned to Springfield for a special session starting at noon today to consider urgent energy legislation and vote on the amendatory veto of Senate Bill 539 issued by Gov. JB Pritzker in August.

The Senate adopted the change on August 31, but the House rejected the change with a vote taken late in the evening after some members had left the session.

The bill expands state lobbyist registration requirements to the local level; prohibits all fundraising statewide during legislative sessions; expands revolving door restrictions; and requires certain consultants hired by a lobbyist or lobbying entity to register and report.

If the Amendatory Veto is accepted the bill will be effective January 1, 2022. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is calling state lawmakers back for a third special session on September 20 to begin redrawing legislative and Congressional districts.

Gov. Abbott also added other items to the agenda, including how to distribute federal pandemic aid and whether local governments can mandate the COVID-19 vaccine for employees.

The focus of the special session, however, will be squarely on redistricting, which occurs every 10 years after the release of new census data.

The state population grew by more than 4 million people since 2010. As a result, Texas gained two new Congressional seats and lawmakers must determine where to put them.

In addition, lawmakers will redraw their own Texas House and Senate districts to consider population growth and decline.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear called a special session of the General Assembly to begin Tuesday, September 7.

The call comes two weeks after the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled a lower court was wrong to block new laws limiting the scope of the governor’s emergency powers, giving the Republicans’ legislative supermajority a substantial say over any new policy measures to address the pandemic.

The session will focus on legislation addressing the pandemic, but Beshear is asking lawmakers to consider a few unrelated matters.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has called the state Legislature to reconvene today, September 1.

The session’s primary order of business will be to extend the state’s eviction moratorium, but the meeting is also expected to address the open meetings law, and issues related to legally producing and distributing cannabis.

Campaign Finance

Canada: “How Interested Outsiders Use ‘Third Party’ Status to Promote Causes, Influence Election” by Christian Pass-Lang for CBC

New Mexico: “Judge Reverses Decision to Deny Gonzales Funds” by Jessica Dyer for Albuquerque Journal

Elections

Texas: “Texas House Passes New Voting Restrictions as Democratic Hopes of Killing the Legislation Wane” by Alexa Ura for Texas Tribune

Ethics

National: “Are Censures of Politicians a Form of Free Speech or a Threat to It?” by Adam Liptak for New York Times

National: “January 6 Committee to Ask Telecommunications Companies to Preserve Phone Records of Members of Congress Who Participated in ‘Stop the Steal’ Rally” by Ryan Nobles, Zachary Cohen, Annie Grayer, and Whitney Wild for CNN

Rhode Island: “Anthony Silva, McKee’s Chief of Staff, Resigns Amid Wetlands Controversy” by Antonia Noori Farzan (Providence Journal) for MSN

Legislative Issues

National: “As Washington Stews, State Legislatures Increasingly Shape American Politics” by Michael Wines for New York Times

Lobbying

Florida: “VancoreJones, Paid to ‘Influence Local Government,’ Failed to Register as Lobbyists” by Steve Stewart for Tallahassee Reports

On August 27, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts called for a special session to begin September 13 for the purposes of redistricting.

New boundaries are expected for state legislative, judicial, and congressional districts.

The does affect lobbyist reporting.

A special lobbying activity report will be due October 15 for expenses over $5,000.

Lobbyists must also file a list of the bills lobbied and the position on each within 45 days after the end of the special session.

Illinois House Speaker Emanuel “Chris” Welch and Senate President Don Harmon issued a joint proclamation calling on the Legislature to convene on August 31 for a one-day special session to make changes in the new state legislative district map after official 2020 population numbers were released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The House and Senate approved the state legislative map on May 28 with only Democratic votes, and Gov. JB Pritzker signed the map into law on June 4.

Republicans have filed a lawsuit in federal court to invalidate the map and give the redistricting commission remapping authority, claiming if a valid redistricting plan with the full force and effect of law was not completed by June 30, the Illinois Constitution shifts the responsibility for drafting a plan from the General Assembly to a redistricting commission.

The Alaska Legislature convened for their third special session of this year Monday, August 16.

Gov. Dunleavy has tasked lawmakers to consider amendments to the Alaskan Constitution relating to the Constitutional Budget Reserve fund and the Alaska Permanent Fund.

The amendments seek to alter the appropriation limits from these funds to help repair infrastructure and aid in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.