Alaskan lawmakers have been busy strategizing how to continue campaign fundraising ahead of the July 11 special session.

State statute bans lawmakers from soliciting or accepting contributions in the capital city or any municipality where the Legislature is convened.

Despite calls by some lawmakers to hold the session in Anchorage due to a lodging shortage in Juneau, the formal legislative session will remain in Juneau allowing political fundraising to continue in Anchorage.

Photo of the chamber of the Alaska House of Representatives by L’Aquatique on Wikimedia Commons.

Lawmakers in Montana rejected a request for a special legislative session to address the state’s campaign finance laws.

Ten legislators called for a special session to address the law controlling contribution limits. In May, a U.S. District Court found Montana’s current law concerning political contribution limits unconstitutional. The ruling reinstated most contribution limits in place before the statute was enacted.

In order to convene the special session, 76 lawmakers, just over half the 150 total number of legislators, needed to agree to the special session. However, only 20 legislators voted in favor of a special session. Montana Public Radio reports Sen. Cary Smith, a supporter of the special session, as saying, “I know the standard is high to call a special session, and that we will be back in session in 2017 and be able to work on this issue.”

Photo of the Montana State Capitol by Maksim on Wikimedia Commons.

For the second year in a row, the General Assembly adjourned on June 30, the final day of the regular session, and entered into a special session through the early hours of July 1, 2016.

Gov. Jack Markell signed the budget bill at 5:15 a.m. Friday, marking the end of the state’s legislative proceedings for the year.

The North Carolina Legislature adjourned its short session on Friday, July 1, 2016. The session lasted almost 10 weeks with the biggest accomplishment being the passage of the state budget.

The next regular session is not scheduled until January 2017.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.

The House agreed to a bill allowing the governor to dip into the state’s rainy day fund to fill a deficit in the budget.

Lawmakers returned for a special session on Tuesday, June 28, to take up the issue, and the Senate quickly passed the measure. The House, however, required a second day but eventually agreed to the plan and adjourned the special session on June 29.

The deficit was the result of tax collections falling below expectations since the fiscal year began last July.

Gov. Phil Bryant has called a special session for June 28, 2016. The Governor is asking lawmakers to give him authorization to use the state’s rainy day fund, known as the Working Cash Stabilization Reserve Fund, to cover the nearly $75 million budget deficit.

If approved, it will be the third time Bryant has had to take such action. The shortfall has been blamed on lagging tax collection so far this year.

Photo of the Mississippi State Capitol by Shawn Lea on Wikimedia Commons.

The Legislature’s special session has come to an end after lawmakers reached an agreement on school finance. After meeting for only two days, the House and Senate approved a compromise on Friday, June 24, to prevent the state’s public schools from closing on July 1.

The measure will use funds from the sale of Kansas Bioscience Authority. It now heads to Gov. Sam Brownback, who has indicated he will sign it.

On June 16, the New Hampshire Legislature held a special one-day session to address the efforts of state and local law enforcement to combat the state’s rising heroin and opioid problem. Lawmakers passed a bill providing more funding for initiatives to battle drug usage. The bill was signed on the same day.

Photo of the New Hampshire State House by Alexius Horatius on Wikimedia Commons.

The General Assembly concluded its session and recessed on June 18. Any bills submitted to Gov. Gina Raimondo must be signed or vetoed by June 28. There is no pocket veto.

Photo of the Rode Island State Capitol by Garrett A. Wollman on Wikimedia Commons.

On June 23, the special session of the Louisiana Legislature adjourned. The governor wanted $600 million to address the state’s budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, but lawmakers would only approve legislation providing $263 million. The special session began the day the regular session concluded.

A special session could be looming in Mississippi as the state continues to deal with budget woes.

Gov. Phil Bryant is currently considering calling lawmakers back into session to balance the budget. This may require the use of back-up funds and could cause a protracted fight to rework the current budget.

This would be Bryant’s sixth special session since taking office.

Photo of Gov. Phil Bryant by U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wikimedia Commons.

The first session of the 41st Legislature will adjourn for summer recess on June 30. They will return to session on October 3, 2016, unless members are called back by the speaker.

After summer recess, the first session is set to adjourn sine die on November 10, 2016.

The second session of the 41st Legislature will convene on November 21, 2016, with a speech from the throne.

On June 19, the Alaska Legislature adjourned its fourth special session.

The Legislature failed to pass revenue measures the special session was called to address. Gov. Bill Walker immediately issued a proclamation calling another special session to convene on July 11.

A veto session is scheduled to convene next week; however, lawmakers in the Senate have already decided not to challenge Gov. Dannel Malloy’s line-item veto cutting more than $20 million in municipal aid.

Democratic leadership in the House will instead hold a closed-door caucus during the June 20 session. An override of the veto needed to start in the Senate because the budget bill originated there.

Most lawmakers are unhappy with the cuts, but Democrats, who control both houses, have chosen not to fight this particular battle with the governor.