Gov. John Bel Edwards has called a special session of the Louisiana Legislature.

The special session will convene at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, February 13, and must adjourn by midnight on February 22.

The governor wants the Legislature to address the state’s budget shortfall and believes a special session is necessary to spread cuts across government and minimize cuts to critical state services.

Edwards plans to lay out the specifics of the budget cuts this week.

The Legislature is not scheduled to convene its regular legislative session until April 10, 2017.

Gov. Scott Walker called the Wisconsin Legislature into special session on Thursday, January 5.  The Legislature is currently in regular session; a special session operates under different rules to speed up the legislative process.

Citing a public health crisis, Walker called the special session so lawmakers would consider a package of heroin and opioid abuse bills. The Senate will consider the bills after they are introduced and move through committee.

Walker also issued executive orders directing state agencies to follow the recommendations of his opioid abuse task force and directing the Department of Health Services to apply for federal funding to help in its response efforts.

Photo of Gov. Scott Walker courtesy of Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons.

North Carolina lawmakers will meet Wednesday for their third special session this month. Gov. Pat McCrory announced he will call a special session Wednesday to vote on repealing House Bill 2.

House Bill 2 restricts which restrooms transgender people can use and blocks local governments from enacting nondiscrimination ordinances regarding the use of public bathrooms.

After months of taunting the public, a special session may happen in late December.

Recently, four Minnesota legislative caucus leaders met with Gov. Mark Dayton and tentatively agreed to a special session. The primary purpose of the session will address Minnesota’s 59 percent increase on its individual health insurance market premiums.

Along with insurance premiums, the special session will address both a vetoed tax bill and a failed bonding bill from the 2016 regular session. While the official date has yet to be announced, the special session will likely occur around December 20, 2016.

Gov. Pat McCrory announced December 13 as the date for a special session to address Hurricane Matthew relief.

The state will need to provide matching funds and funding for what federal relief won’t cover.

The special session is also expected to address relief needed for the recent wildfires in the western part of the state.