LobbyComply Blog

Alaska’s fourth special session adjourned on November 21 after reaching the 30-day limit set by the state’s constitution.

Since November 10, lawmakers were in a technical session after the Senate attempted to adjourn the special session after passing a criminal justice reform bill. In Alaska one body cannot adjourn without the other.

No committee hearings are held in a technical session, and no formal legislative business is done.

The Montana Legislature adjourned a special session on the state’s budget shortfall in the early hours on Thursday morning.

Multiple bills were passed to close the $227 million gap including a bill requiring furloughs of state employees, changing the state liquor license lottery to an auction, and a bill to eliminate $13 million in block grants for school districts statewide. Tax increases proposed by Gov. Steve Bullock did not pass.

Legislators have said the passed budget solutions are far from perfect but avoid deeper cuts to crucial state agencies.

The Alaska Senate adjourned the fourth special session on November 10.

However, on November 13 the House majority coalition announced plans to hold technical sessions until the special session ends November 21.

A technical session will force the Senate to hold similar sessions because one body cannot adjourn without the other.

Lawmakers passed a criminal justice reform bill despite warnings from the Alaska Department of Law and ACLU that the measures are unconstitutional.

The first special session of Maine’s 128^th Legislature adjourned sine die on November 6, 2017. The House sustained Gov. Paul LePage’s veto of a bill allowing and regulating the retail sale of recreational marijuana.

Additionally, the bill to bring ranked-choice voting law into constitutional compliance became law without the governor’s signature. Maine voters passed a ballot initiative approving ranked-choice voting in the November 2016 elections.

Ranked-choice voting ensures the winning candidate in a multicandidate race receives the majority vote because voters rank candidates in order of preference. If a candidate does not receive 50 percent of first-choice votes, then the lowest scoring candidate is eliminated and votes are retabulated.

The bill to bring ranked-choice voting into constitutional compliance delays the new system until 2021 and automatically repeals the law unless voters ratify a constitutional amendment authorizing the Legislature to determine the method the state Legislature and Governor are elected by December 1, 2021.

The Hawaii Senate is scheduled to convene a two-day special legislative session on Tuesday, November 14, to confirm 4 judicial appointments.

Choosing from a list of candidates selected by the Judicial Selection Committee, Chief Justice Mark E. Recktenwald appointed Jessi Hall to the First District Family Court Judge and Gov. Ige appointed Paul Wong, Matthew Viola, and Rowena Somerville to the First Circuit Court.

Each Circuit Court judge will serve a 10-year term while the Family Court appointment has a six-year term.

Gov. Steve Bullock called the Legislature into a special session late Monday to address the state’s budget issues caused by an unforeseen drop in state revenue and costly wildfires.

Gov. Bullock has been working with lawmakers for months to come up with a plan to fix budgetary issues without calling a special session, but no agreement could be reached. Gov. Bullock released a list of cuts he would be willing to make to state agencies to help close the gap in revenue.

Smaller state agencies, including the Commissioner of Political Practices who oversees the state’s ethics, will see 10% cuts while larger agencies such as the Department of Corrections and the state university system will be burdened much less.

The special session is scheduled to convene November 14, 2017.

Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening legislators had completed their special session and passed six bills.

The special session was called after West Virginia voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of a road bond levy.

Bills passed include increasing civil penalties for contractors who do not hire at least 75 percent of their workforce from West Virginia, allowing the sharing of certain information between the West Virginia Division of Highways and West Virginia Tax Commissioner, and exempting military pensions from the state’s personal income tax.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo may call a special session this fall.

Cuomo believes a special session may be needed to address federal cuts to the state’s health care programs and other budgetary issues.

In a letter to lawmakers, Cuomo stated a special session may be needed to appropriate funds for Lake Ontario flood victims.

Gov. Jim Justice said he will call the West Virginia Legislature into special session on October 16, 2017.

State officials have commented a legislative framework must first be established in order to get the road projects off the ground.

On October 7, 2017, voters approved a constitutional amendment allowing transportation officials to sell $1.6 billion in general obligation bonds to make up about 60 percent of the governor’s “Roads to Prosperity” program, which he believes will give the West Virginia economy a boost.

Some lawmakers say the Legislature will need to meet in a special session in the coming months to battle Montana’s budget crisis made worse by the summer’s wildfires.

Gov. Steve Bullock can cut budgets by up to 10 percent to balance the budget, but the bipartisan Legislative Finance Committee said this week that more than spending cuts will be necessary and passed a resolution to reduce cuts. Gov. Bullock will likely come forward with his final spending cuts in the coming weeks.

A statement from the governor’s office issued this afternoon did not give a timeline for when Bullock may call a special session.

Gov. Paul LePage has called a special session of the Maine Legislature.

The special session will address a food sovereignty law conflicting with federal requirements and funding for the Office of Geographic Information Systems.

The special session will begin on October 23, 2017.

The Hawaii Senate convened a two-day special legislative session on Monday, September 25, to confirm two judicial appointments.

Choosing from a list of candidates selected by the Judicial Selection Committee, Gov. Ige had appointed former Third District Family Court Judge Henry T. Nakamoto and attorney Robert D.S. Kim to the Third Circuit Court.

Each judge will serve a 10-year term.

Gov. Bill Walker issued a proclamation to convene the Legislature’s fourth special session on October 23 to address revenue and public safety issues.

The governor has proposed a payroll tax of 1.5 percent that is expected to generate between $300 million and $325 million. Under this proposal, Alaskans would pay the lowest taxes in the country.

Senate Bill 54, which addresses Class-C felonies, will also be under consideration.

This week, Montana Gov. Steve Bullock discussed calling a special session of the Legislature to address how to pay the costs of the summer’s wildfires.

The Governor’s budget director recommended the state reduce spending by $229.3 million to balance a reduction in tax revenue and an unforeseen increase in spending to fight extensive wildfires this year.

The Legislature passed a bill in the spring allowing the state to cut the fire fund if the revenue was lower than expected, causing the state to be an estimated $25 to $40 million short in covering this year’s costs.

Gov. Bullock stated a special session will be necessary at some point before 2019 to consider raising taxes to offset budget cuts and the high firefighting bill.