The Washington Legislature adjourned a one-day special session after passing a new drug possession law. The new bill makes it a gross misdemeanor to use drugs in public or possess small amounts of drugs and adds alternative sentencing for minor drug offenses. The original bill failed on the last day of the regular session, with both progressive Democrats and Republicans voting down the bill. The new law is a compromise between the parties, with both sides getting inclusions into the law.

The first regular session of the 102nd Missouri General Assembly concluded after passing only 43 policy bills, the lowest number passed by a General Assembly in more than two decades, not counting the pandemic-limited session in 2020. The speaker declared the session adjourned sine die as of midnight May 30, in accordance with the constitution. The Legislature could not agree on a plan to legalize sports betting or to make it more difficult for citizens to change the state constitution through initiative petitions.

Gov. Bill Lee has decided to bring back lawmakers for a special session to address public safety issues.

The governor had proposed legislation during the regular session intended to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous individuals.

However, the General Assembly adjourned before the legislation was considered.

The special session will take place August 21.

The 2023 session of the Florida Legislature adjourned sine die on May 5.

Florida lawmakers approved a $117 billion budget that includes $2.7 billion in tax cuts for consumers and businesses, then moved quickly to adjourn their regular session.

The new budget that starts July 1 is $5 billion higher this last year’s, thanks largely to unexpectedly high revenue collections.

The budget adds nearly $2 billion to the state’s reserves, bringing the total to about $10.9 billion, about $4 billion less than Gov. Ron DeSantis requested.

The Montana Legislature adjourned sine die May 2, after a surprising motion from Senate Minority Leader Pat Flowers leading to an impromptu close of the contentious 2023 session.

The House, playing catch up to the Senate’s sudden adjournment, was able to pass both of the session’s marque bills.

House Bill 2, the state’s $13.4 billion budget bill, and House Bill 816, an income and property tax rebate bill.

This does affect lobbyist reporting. The principal end of session report is due June 1.

The 68th Legislative Assembly adjourned sine die on April 30 after passing 583 bills including two amending the ethics code.

Senate Bill 2048 requires each legislative assembly to adopt conflict of interest rules.

House Bill 1257 requires school board candidates seeking office in districts with at least 1,000 students to file financial disclosures.

This applies to more than 15 public districts, including Fargo, West Fargo, Grand Forks, and Bismarck. Both bills are effective August 1.

The Tennessee Legislature adjourned sine die on April 21.

Lawmakers succeeded in approving $140 million for school resource officers, along with $3.3 billion for a roads plan backed by Gov. Bill Lee.

The session also prominently featured the partisan expulsions of Democratic Reps. Justin Pearson and Justin Jones.

Republican Rep. Scotty Campbell resigned in the wake of findings by a bipartisan ethics subcommittee that he had violated the General Assembly’s workplace policy on discrimination and harassment.

Gov. Lee also indicated he plans on calling a special session to act on gun reform after it was left unaddressed in this session, with a date still to be announced.

The Washington Legislature adjourned sin die on April 23.

Lawmakers passed over 450 bills during the session, including a $69 billion dollar budget bill that raises pay for state employees and public-school teachers.

Additionally, Senate Bill 5170 was signed into law, allowing the solicitation of gifts, grants, or donations to support conferences of national or regional legislative organizations held outside the state by certain legislators and staff.

The 445th Maryland General Assembly adjourned from their 90-day session on April 10.

Passed legislation includes the Fair Wage Act of 2023 and the Family Prosperity Act of 2023.

These bills are aimed toward reducing child poverty and raising the minimum wage which will increase wages for approximately 163,000 workers, and ultimately benefit 120,000 children in the state.

The Idaho Legislature adjourned sine die Thursday, April 6.

During the contentious session, legislators were able to pass a revised Medicare budget, a new public school budget, and overturn a veto to enact a property tax reduction bill.

Legislators also passed House Bill 11, expanding the prohibition regarding the use of private moneys for the purpose of election administration to include officials and state employees.

This does affect lobbying reporting. The final lobbyist activity report for the year is due May 15.

State Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson were officially expelled from the legislature after individual resolutions were brought by Republicans proposing their removal.

A procedural vote cleared the chamber, and the two-thirds vote of the House needed to formally expel the representatives was received.

The lawmakers’ districts comprised the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis.

Rep. Gloria Johnson also faced expulsion but was not removed as the two-thirds vote failed by a single vote.

Special elections will be held to fill the seats vacated by the two members.

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die on April 5 after a little over 90 days in session.

This session was highlighted by increased funding for hospitals, roads, and bridges, along with a $100 million dollar increase in educational funding.

The lobbyist end-of-session activity report is due April 15.

The 2023 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 30.

A procurement bill and a bill requiring special elections for Louisville passed.

House Bill 0522 increases the small purchase amounts for public agencies from $30,000 to $40,000 before requiring a newspaper advertisement seeking bids.

House Bill 0191 requires a special election must be held 60 days after the declaration of vacancy, to fill an open Louisville Metro Council seat if the vacancy occurs over three months before a regular election.

Several Campaign finance bills did not pass, including:

• A bill requiring campaign consultants to register
• A bill permitting paper filings
• A bill prohibiting candidates, committees, and contributing organizations from making an expenditure to an intermediary.

The 98th session of the Legislature adjourned sine die on March 27.

During the session, lawmakers passed House Bill 1060 increasing the threshold for requiring a purchasing agency to advertise for bids or proposals for a contract for the purchase of supplies or services, other than professional services, from $25,000 to $50,000 and any public improvement contract from $50,000 to $100,000.

A lobbying bill prohibiting the spouse of a member of the legislature from being employed as a lobbyist and a campaign finance bill to increase contribution limits did not pass.