Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin wants a special legislative session to address a budget shortfall caused by a recent Oklahoma Supreme Court Ruling. The Court struck down a cigarette fee resulting in $215 million in lost revenue.

If the budget is not reappropriated, the ruling will force four state agencies to restructure their budgets due to loss of funds. Money cannot be transferred to the affected agencies without a legislative directive.

Though a special session is likely inevitable, legislative leadership has suggested the governor wait to call a session because there are other revenue-related court cases still pending.

The Texas Legislature ended its special legislative session abruptly Tuesday night without a resolution on Gov. Greg Abbott’s top priority of property tax reform.

The House adjourned earlier in the day leaving the Senate to accept their version of the property tax reform bill or not pass one. The Senate did not accept the House version and the session ended without fanfare.

Some Senators are calling for Gov. Abbott to call a second special session solely for the issue.

About half of the session’s 20-item agenda was accomplished, including the passage of several sunset bills.

Becky Campbell is here to help you sort through all the state government ethics news from a busy week in this week’s video digest.

The North Carolina General Assembly convened for a special session on August 3 to address unresolved conference reports and amend the previous adjournment resolution, cancelling a previously scheduled September 6 special session.

Lawmakers will now convene on August 18 to address redistricting.

The change in session dates was needed after a federal three-judge panel ordered lawmakers to draw new legislative district maps by September 1.

Rumors of a special session of the Utah Legislature to allocate money or legislation concerning the homeless and lawlessness in downtown Salt Lake City have been circling this week.

Gov. Gary Herbert said he’s willing to call a special session of the Utah Legislature if necessary to put the proper steps in motion to rid the Rio Grande area of the city of its drug dealing. A stepped-up effort to clean up downtown’s Rio Grande area has been created to transform downtown into a safe place that residents can once again enjoy without fear.

House Speaker Greg Hughes called the rumors premature but progress in the coming weeks will tell.

Wisconsin lawmakers are scheduled to convene this morning specifically to consider and act upon legislation to bring Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturing services provider, to the state.

Though the legislature is still in regular session, Gov. Walker called a special legislative session to take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Wisconsin to lead the nation in high-tech manufacturing.

The legislation to be considered could bring 13,000 direct Foxconn jobs, 10,000 direct construction jobs, and 22,000 additional project-related jobs to the state.

The General Assembly will convene a special session today, July 31, 2017, to vote on an over-due budget proposal. Lawmakers failed to pass a budget during this year’s regular session and are one month past the deadline for a new two-year budget.

Senator’s will vote to approve a labor deal made between Gov. Dannel Malloy and the employee unions to fund the state’s pension system. The House already approved the deal.

The Senate is evenly split among Democrats and Republicans, so a party line vote would require Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman, a Democrat, to break the tie.

The Texas Legislature convened a special legislative session July 18, 2017. Property tax was a topic Gov. Greg Abbott immediately put on the agenda for the session.

House Bill 4 and Senate Bill 1 both, among other things, require a special election be called if any municipality plans to increase property taxes on land and buildings by more than 4 or 5 percent. Senate Bill 1 was passed by the Senate this week.

City and county leaders have stated such automatic election requirements would limit their budget for basic services and force them to hold costly elections.

The special session can run for up to 30 days.

On July 20, the Washington Legislature adjourned its third special session sine die.

Lawmakers were unable to reach agreement on a budget bill due to negotiations breaking down on a water-rights bill that was tied to the budget.

Gov. Jay Inslee indicated that he would not call lawmakers back for another overtime session unless they have a firm plan that will lead to a vote on the capital budget.

On July 27, the Legislature is expected to convene again for a one-day special session to pass the state’s capital construction budget. This will be the Legislature’s third special session.

Lawmakers were previously unable to agree to a compromise on the budget, but have reportedly reached an agreement with enough support to call a special session.

Under the Alaska Constitution, the approval of two-thirds of the Legislature is necessary to call a special session.

The Texas Legislature convened a special session Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Gov. Greg Abbott selected 20 bills for the agenda to be discussed by lawmakers during the session.

The priority for the session is sunset legislation to allow select state agencies to continue operating.

Among the other subjects on the agenda are bathroom privacy, property tax, and multiple education issues.

The special session comes a week after Gov. Abbott announced his bid for a second term.

Alaska’s second special session adjourned July 15 with lawmakers ending the oil tax credit program.

The Legislature may be called back into another special session soon to deal with the unfinished business of the capital budget and deficit reduction measures.

Gov. Bill Walker said in a press conference he is waiting for legislative leaders to present a compromise on the budget before he will call another costly special session.

Hawaii Senate President Ron Kouchi and House Speaker Scott Saiki recently sent a memorandum to the Hawaii Legislature providing notice of a tentatively scheduled special legislative session.

Subject to final confirmation and an agreement on the proposed language for bills to be discussed, the leadership asked all lawmakers to be in Hawaii for a legislative session from August 28 to September 1, 2017.

The purpose of the special session will be to create a solution to fund the Honolulu Rail Transit Project.

Becky Campbell is here covering the state government and ethics news from around the country in this week’s video digest!