The second regular session of the 121st General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 12, after a 14-hour session.

Gov. Eric Holcomb signed 25 of the 45 bills received in the last two days of the session.

This is including one providing for electronic filing of campaign finance reports by candidates and committees.

Additionally, Holcomb signed a bill preventing the state and political subdivisions from contracting with a “prohibited person”.

This is officially defined as a person designated as posing a national security threat to the integrity of communications networks.

As a result, the remaining acts passed by the Legislature become law on the eighth day after presentment if Holcomb does not sign or veto them.

After completing its legislative business today, the Parliament of Canada will adjourn until at least April 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The political parties have agreed to the adjournment, according to Conservative House of Commons leader Mark Strahl.

“Members of Parliament are speaking with one voice today to say that we will do our part,” said MP Peter Julian on behalf of the New Democratic Party, according to Politico.

Additionally, on March 12, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s wife, was diagnosed with the COVID-19 virus.

Even while adjourned, the government will still have the ability to allocate federal funds to try to stem the spread of the virus.

In the final hours of the legislative session ending just before midnight on March 12, lawmakers pushed through a series of measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

The legislature extended the state of emergency for Utah to June 30, and instituted a “no handshake” rule at the Capitol.

To help seniors who are highly susceptible to the novel coronavirus, $24 million was appropriated.

An additional $16 million was appropriated to the Utah Department of Health.

Finally, $4 million was passed for Utah’s Division of Emergency Management dealing with COVID-19.

Senate Majority Whip Dan Hemmert passed a resolution that allows lawmakers to meet remotely, using electronic communication methods.

House Bill 186, relating to lobbyist registration as a foreign agent, was introduced but not passed.

The bill would have required a foreign agent to register with the lieutenant governor prior to engaging in any lobbying activity.

In total, lawmakers passed 510 bills ranging from affordable housing and education to women’s rights and technology.

Due to concerns over COVID-19, the Delaware General Assembly has postponed the legislative session for one week until March 24.

Lawmakers were originally expected to return next week to discuss the state budget.

Starting today, the Capitol building will be closed to the public including tours and official meetings.

Legislators will reevaluate how to manage the rest of the legislative session on a weekly basis.

The closure does not affect any lobbyist reporting.

The 2020 session of the Washington State Legislature adjourned sine die on March 12 after 60 days in session.

Lawmakers’ final hours of work were overshadowed by the continued onslaught of COVID-19 news in the state.

This prompted passage of a supplemental state budget doubling funding from $100 million to $200 million for the COVID-19 response.

Lawmakers noted the sense of urgency to finish their work quickly due to growing concerns about the spread of the virus.

During the session, legislators passed a bill concerning certification of the level of foreign national ownership for corporations participating in state elections.

Senate Bill 6152 requires a certification from each corporation making a contribution to the candidate, political committee, or incidental committee.

The certification must state the corporation’s ownership is comprised of less than 50% of foreign nationals.

Legislators also passed a procurement bill providing for accountability and transparency in government contracting.

House Bill 1521 requires evaluation of contract performance.

The evaluation assess whether decisions to contract out government services to the private sector are achieving their stated objectives.

In addition, the bill intends to ensure public contractors given access to state resources are held to ethical standards consistent with public values.

Gov. Jay Inslee has 20 days to act on the bills.

On March 12, the Maryland General Assembly announced the State House, the House and Senate office buildings, and Department of Legislative Services will be closed to the public.

Only people with a state-issued credential are permitted access.

Further, a mandatory telework policy has been put into effect for all non-essential personnel.

The announcement came after Gov. Larry Hogan instituted a similar telework policy for state agencies.

On Thursday March 12, Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and Speaker of the House David Ralston announced the General Assembly will suspend the 2020 legislative session indefinitely.

The assembly suspended following the 29^th legislative day on Friday, March 13.

The suspension is out of an abundance of caution and in the interest of health and safety of members, staff and the public given the prevalence of the coronavirus.

The session will resume at a future date to be determined.

The 2020 session of the Virginia General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 12.

The assembly completed the final actions for the session, including approval of the budget bill.

Legislators will reconvene on April 22 for the annual one-day veto session.

Under consideration are Gov. Ralph Northam’s vetoes and recommended amendments on any bills still pending.

On Wednesday March 11, lawmakers cancelled all legislative sessions through next week.

This will also include all other events scheduled to take place at the Capitol in Springfield, including lobby day events and tours of the Capitol.

Senate President Don Harmon announced next week’s legislative sessions are canceled due to public health concerns over the coronavirus.

The General Assembly was set to return to session in Springfield next Wednesday, the day after Tuesday’s primary.

The Oregon legislative session officially ended at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday.

The short session came to a halt when both House and Senate Republican lawmakers walked out.

This was done in order to stop progress on controversial cap-and-trade bills designed to combat climate change.

Only three bills passed the Legislature during this session, with more than 250 bills left stalled.

The Second Session of the 84th Legislature adjourned sine die on March 7 at noon after 60 days in session.

Legislators passed 74 bills, including the budget bill that was a priority for legislators and Gov. Jim Justice.

Lawmakers also passed House Bill 4092, which provided major changes to the state’s foster care system.

The Second Session of the 54th New Mexico Legislature adjourned sine die on February 20 at noon after 30 days in session.

During the session, legislators endorsed a $7.6 billion general fund budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

The budget raises annual spending by $536 million, setting aside $17 million toward an initiative that may eventually provide tuition-free education at public colleges.

The budget bill also places $320 million in an endowment fund designed to underwrite early childhood education programs with future investments earnings.

Lawmakers also introduced but did not pass Senate Bill 53, which would have required a lobbyist or lobbyist’s employer to file reports within 14 days following the conclusion of a legislative session.

Senate Bill 53 would have required the post-session report to indicate legislation lobbied and the position taken on each piece of legislation.

Opening day of the 2021 legislative session is scheduled for January 19.

Salem attorney Steve Elzinga has proposed changes to the state administrative rules to prevent manipulation of a mechanism allowing citizens to stop new laws passed by legislators.

Our Oregon, a union backed political group, is alarmed about the proposed changes to the state’s election rules.

The group says the rules give special interests excessive influence.

The opposing sides argue they are defending the ability of voters to directly access the state’s political system.

The Office of the Secretary of State held a hearing on the rule changes earlier this week. Secretary of State Bev Clarno could decide on the rule changes as soon as next month.

In Oregon, if citizens want to challenge a new law passed by the Legislature they can put it to a statewide vote by using the state’s referendum process.

Citizens have 90 days after the Legislature adjourns to petition for a referendum, unless a new law is written to take effect right away.

The number of signatures required to trigger a referendum is based on turnout in previous elections

The number of signatures required is currently 74,680.

However, signatures can’t be gathered until the governor signs the legislation into law.

The proposed change would permit collecting signatures for a referendum as soon as the targeted legislation passes both the House and the Senate.

Governors have 30 business days after the Legislature adjourns to sign a bill into law.

The change would prevent governors delaying the signing of a bill to chew up some of the 90 days set aside for petition work.

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos announced a special session to introduce bills regarding the state’s dairy crisis.

Gov. Tony Evers, in his State of the State address on January 22, called for the Legislature to convene a special session to address the dairy crisis.

Wisconsin lost 10% of the state’s dairy farms in 2019, breaking the previous year’s record high of 7.25%.

The governor wants the Legislature to act on a package of proposals to assist rural Wisconsin.