North Dakota lawmakers adjourned a three day special session on Thursday.

The session concluded with the Legislature passing a bill to cover the state’s budget shortfall.

Photo of the North Dakota State Capitol by MatthewUND on Wikimedia Commons.

The Massachusetts Legislature adjourned its formal session on July 31 with a flurry of activity.

Lawmakers passed several significant pieces of legislation, including a campaign finance law requiring certain independent expenditure-only committees to disclose their top five contributors, a law regulating services like Uber and Lyft, and bills funding state infrastructure projects.

The Legislature will continue to hold informal sessions until the body is adjourned sine die in January of 2017.

Photo of the Massachusetts State Capitol by Fcb981 on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Robert Bentley has announced a special legislative session will convene August 15, 2016.

The primary focus of the session will be a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide lottery.

Bentley believes the lottery will solve the state’s financial problems.

Gov. Bentley will call a special session. The session will focus on a constitutional amendment allowing a statewide lottery.

Alabama is one of six states without a lottery, and Bentley believes it will solve the state’s funding problem.

The dates of the special session have not been determined.

Photo of Gov. Bentley by Sutherland Boswell on Wikimedia Commons.

The Hawaii State Legislature adjourned its special session sine die on Wednesday, July 20.

Prior to adjournment, lawmakers voted to override Gov. David Ige’s veto of a bill to authorize severance benefits or early retirement incentives for employees who would be directly affected by the impending privatization of three state-run Maui County hospitals.

State Sen. John Arthur Smith, chair of the Senate Finance Committee, and Treasurer Tim Eichenberg, have requested Gov. Susana Martinez to call a special session of the Legislature. The oil and gas slowdown has significantly affected the state’s budget, bringing the state’s overall revenue down $446 million for the 2016 fiscal year, which ended on June 30. As a result, the state government now finds itself at least $150 million short of funding to remain solvent throughout the calendar year.

Eichenberg indicates a failure to call a special session could result in the treasurer’s office failing to honor payments necessary to critical government functions such as schools, police, and prisons.

Photo of the New Mexico State Capitol by Urban on Wikimedia Commons.

On July 18, the Alaska Legislature adjourned its fifth special session.

The Legislature failed to pass any deficit reduction measures the special session was called to address.

Following the unsuccessful eight day session, it is expected that further work towards budget reforms will wait until after the November election.

Photo of the Alaska State Capitol by Jay Galvin on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Mark Dayton, Senate Majority Leader Tom Bakk, and House Speaker Kurt Daudt have tentatively agreed to call a special legislative session during the third week of August.

The governor and lawmakers have met several times since the Legislature adjourned in late May to work through details of approving a tax bill and bonding bill.

While the three men were able to reach an agreement regarding the tax bill during a meeting last week, negotiations on the bonding bill must continue before the governor will announce a definitive date for the special session.

Photo of the Minnesota State Capitol by Jonathunder on Wikimedia Commons.

On July 13, the Utah Legislature adjourned its special session sine die.

Lawmakers voted for the state to allocate up to $10 million in funds for a new stadium in the Fairpark area of Salt Lake City.

An additional bill passed during the one-day special session regulates the use of personal drones over wildfires.

Photo of the Utah State Capitol by Scott Catron on Wikimedia Commons.

Gov. Jack Dalrymple called a special session to convene August 2.

The session is needed to address North Dakota’s budget shortfall, and it is expected to last three days.

Hawaii legislators convened a special session Tuesday after Gov. David Ige vetoed a bill intended to assist state employees who will be affected when three Maui county hospitals are taken over by Kaiser Permanente on October 1.

The state must decide how to transition employees from state service to private service in the largest privatization project in modern state history. Lawmakers met briefly on Tuesday before breaking for recess; they will reconvene Monday.

On Monday, July 11, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued a call for a special legislative session to be held this Wednesday, July 13. The session was called to consider legislation related the Judicial Nomination Commission, the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, the Utah State Fairpark, and other matters.

One major concern the governor wants addressed in the special session is unmanned aircrafts being used near wildland fires. “This summer, wildfires in the state have become significantly worse due to drones interrupting air operations,” Gov. Herbert said in his press release.

A special session is now unlikely until after the primary elections, due to lawmakers’ increasingly busy schedules.

Lawmakers have sought a special session to pass tax and bonding bills since adjourning the regular session in May, but Gov. Mark Dayton required agreement on several issues before he was willing to call the session.

To date, Dayton and lawmakers have been unable to reach an agreement on those issues.

After failing to pass a budget before the end of its spring session in May, the 98th Illinois General Assembly wrapped up its business on Thursday, June 30.

While concerns over the state budget were not completely alleviated, lawmakers were able to pass a short-term budget deal to keep basic services running.

Gov. Bruce Rauner believes further compromise and budget reform could occur in the 60 days following the November election when legislators will be more comfortable tackling tougher issues.