The Maryland General Assembly adjourned sine die on April 8.

Legislators were in mourning due to the death of House Speaker Michael Busch the day prior.

A Democrat from Anne Arundel County, Busch served as speaker for 16 years, longer than anyone in state history.

Though delegates will vote for a new leader at a later date, county committee members will appoint a successor to Busch’s House seat.

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die on March 29.

House Bill 1205 was passed, prohibiting public agencies from requiring 501(c) entities to provide the public agency with the personal information of its members, supporters, volunteers or donors.

While the bill has been negatively characterized as allowing dark money contributions, it does not affect any provision of the state’s campaign finance statutes.

An end-of-session report is due 10 days following adjournment sine die of the Legislature.

However, the Secretary of State’s Office has not yet announced a revision to the April 17 due date.

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned sine die on March 16, 2019.

House Bill 668, relating to the State Ethics Commission Act, was passed by the Legislature on the final day of the session.

The bill creates the new independent ethics commission demanded by voters in the November 2018 election.

The new commission will oversee state public officials and employees and give the commission investigative powers over ethics violations.

The bill is awaiting the governor’s signature. If signed, sections one through eight and 34 of the bill will become effective July 1, 2019.

The remaining sections will become effective on January 1, 2020.

Gov. Jim Justice called the West Virginia Legislature to convene a special session to address improvements to public education and pay raises for school teachers.

Speaker Roger Hanshaw said the House would go through a feedback gathering process that could take a couple months or more, and that the special session would likely meet a couple days each month before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

The regular session is scheduled to adjourn sine die on March 9.

Gov. Kay Ivey has called a special session to begin March 6, 2019.

The special session will focus on legislation related to a gas and diesel fuel tax.

Calling the special session suspends the regular session and allows the gas tax bill to pass with a majority vote, as opposed to the three-fifths vote required during a regular session.

The regular session is expected to re-convene on March 19.

The Wyoming Legislature adjourned sine die in the early hours of February 28.

The House spent the final day of its 2019 legislative session overriding four of Gov. Mark Gordon’s 14 vetoes, but the Senate decided to only override two of those four.

Earlier this month, Gov. Gordon signed Senate File 18 into law, which requires any candidate, political action committee, and candidate’s campaign committee to file an itemized statement of contributions and expenditures at least seven days but not more than 14 days before an election.

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned sine die on February 24.

During the 47-day session, lawmakers failed to pass bills creating campaign contribution limits for candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, or state legislators.

A gift notification is due three weeks after the adjournment of the regular legislative session and will be due March 17.

Governor Bevin called a special session to find a resolution to the public employee pension plan. Two bills were introduced to reform the current plan.

The Kentucky Supreme Court ruled last week that a pension law passed last session was unconstitutional because it was passed improperly.

The Governor needs only 51 votes to pass a bill in special session compared to the 60 he would need in the regular session convening in two weeks.

The special session must last for at least five days.

The Utah Legislature will meet in a special session on December 3 to discuss the voter-approved medical marijuana ballot measure passed by a majority of voters this month.

This week, Senate President Wayne Niederhauser said his fellow senators needed to attend the session and he could compel their presence if necessary.

Gov. Gary Herbert vowed to call a special session to discuss medical marijuana regardless of the outcome of the bill. Gov. Herbert has been working with legislators and the Mormon church to find a compromise and tweak legislation based on the passed measure.

A two-thirds majority vote is necessary to make the legislation effective.

The Georgia General Assembly adjourned a special session on Saturday.

Legislators approved two bills allocating $270 million for emergency relief and providing $200 million of tax incentives for areas affected by Hurricane Michael.

Gov. Deal also signed a bill ratifying an executive order suspending the collection of sales and use tax on jet fuel

This week, Utah voters passed Proposition 2 legalizing medical marijuana.

The highly controversial ballot initiative caused Gov. Gary Herbert to announce his intention to call a special session on medical marijuana regardless of the outcome of this week.

The proposition will go into effect on December 1, 2018, and Gov. Herbert’s office announced its intent this week to convene a special session shortly thereafter.

Under state law, an initiative passed by statewide vote can be amended by the legislature after it becomes law.

Gov. Herbert has already discussed changes and compromises with lawmakers and proponents of Proposition 2. This will be the state’s third special session this year.

Utah voters passed Amendment C allowing the Legislature to call itself into a special session.

This came after Gov. Gary Herbert refused to call lawmakers to set a special election to fill the vacancy created by the departure of U.S. Representative Jason Chaffetz.

Amendment C will allow legislators to convene if two-thirds of the House and Senate agree it is necessary because of a fiscal crisis, war, natural disaster or emergency.

The amendment also allows the Legislature to hold a special session outside the Capitol if the building isn’t available.

Voters appear headed to approve Amendment C as unofficial vote totals show it winning 63.2 percent to 36.8 percent.

Voters passed Amendment 10 proposing four changes to state and local government structure and operation.

The first proposal changes the regular sessions for the Legislature from March to January on even-numbered years.

The measure also created the Office of Domestic Security and Counter-Terrorism within the Department of Law Enforcement and requires the Legislature to provide for a Department of Veterans Affairs within the executive branch.

The last proposal passed by the measure ensures elections for the county offices of sheriff, tax collector, property appraiser, supervisor of elections, and clerk of the circuit court.

The changes relating to the election of county officers will take effect January 5, 2021, except for Miami-Dade and Broward Counties which will take in January 7, 2025.

Lawmakers convened and adjourned two special sessions regarding a proposal for tuition-free college education and to vote on a reapportionment initiative.

The Legislature approved Bill 32-0329 to schedule a special election for March 30, 2019.

The election will allow voters to decide whether to restructure the Legislature to create smaller district senators and increase the number of at-large senators.