Gov. Jim Justice has appointed Trenton Barnhart to the vacant District 7 seat.

The seat became vacant when Del. Jason Harshbarger resigned to become Dominion Energy’s state policy director.

Gov. Justice made the selection from a list of three people submitted by the West Virginia Republican Party.

Maryland Del. Eric Bromwell resigned from his District 8 seat to serve as Baltimore County’s first opioid strategy coordinator.

Additionally, Del. Stephen Lafferty resigned from his District 42A seat to serve as Baltimore County’s chief sustainability officer.

Gov. Larry Hogan will appoint successors to the vacancies following recommendations from the Baltimore County Democratic Central Committee.

The California Legislature adjourned the 2019 session on September 13.

Campaign Finance Bills Passed

The legislature passed several campaign finance bills during the session.

Assembly Bill 220 prohibits the use of campaign funds to pay for professional services not directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose. The bill also authorizes the use of campaign funds to pay for child care expenses resulting from a candidate or officeholder engaging in campaign activities or performing official duties.

Assembly Bill 571 makes a technical, nonsubstantive change to a provision of the Political Reform Act of 1974. The provision prohibits candidates for elective state office or committees controlled by that candidate from making a contribution to another candidate for elective state office in excess of $3,000.

Senate Bill 71 prohibits the expenditure of funds in a legal defense fund campaign account to pay or reimburse a candidate or elected officer for attorney’s fees or other legal costs.

The bill also prohibits the use of campaign funds for fines, penalties, judgments, or settlements, except as specified.

Electioneering Bill Passed

Assembly Bill 201 broadens the definition of mass mailing to include campaign-related mass texting. Mass text messages will be required to include the name or image of a candidate or refer to a ballot measure.

Lobbying Bill Passed

Assembly Bill 902 codifies current regulations into law, including regulations regarding filing deadlines, bookkeeping, and lobbyist registration.

The last day for the governor to sign or veto bills passed by the legislature during the 2019 legislative session is October 13.

The General Court of New Hampshire is set to reconvene this week for a veto session over 55 bills vetoed by Gov. Chris Sununu.

The Legislature will discuss bills relating to firearm sales, renewal energy, and campaign finance transparency.

Lawmakers will review Senate Bill 156 concerning political contributions by limited liability companies.

The bill requires political contributions made by a limited liability company to be allocated to members for the purpose of contribution limits.

The House of Representatives is scheduled to meet for two days on September 18 and 19. The Senate is scheduled for one day on Thursday, September 19.

Missouri lawmakers are back in Jefferson City for the annual veto session, beginning September 11 at 12 p.m. at the Missouri State Capitol.

The veto session gives lawmakers the ability to overturn any of Gov. Mike Parson’s six vetoes.

Two widely debated vetoes include outdoor cremations and whether to let motorcyclists ride without a helmet.

A two-thirds vote in the House and the Senate is needed to overturn a veto.

The veto session is running at the same time as a special session, which Gov. Parson called to address a vehicle tax credit issue.

Gov. Matt Bevin announced Tuesday, November 5 as the special election date to fill the sudden vacancy of House District 18.

Rep. Tim Moore resigned his seat midterm, citing his own belief in term limits.

The special election will be held on the same date as the statewide general election.

The Portland Auditor has announced new campaign finance disclosure and contribution requirements and a new public campaign financing program.

Committees must now timely file disclosures of financing for certain election communications advocating for or against a city candidate. Additionally, committees must provide names of individuals or other entities contributing to the committees.

Entities making more than $750 in independent expenditures to support or oppose city candidates must now register with the secretary of state as a political committee or independent expenditure filer and provide certain disclosures.

Public and private employers must now allow employees to donate to political committees through payroll deduction if they allow similar post-tax deductions for other purposes.

The public campaign financing program will require candidates to agree to limit individual contributions to $250 or less and abide by other fundraising limits. Qualified candidates will receive a six to one match for campaign contributions of $50 or less.

Candidates will not be required to participate in the program.

The new disclosure rules went into effect Wednesday, September 4. City candidates are eligible to qualify for the public campaign finance program on Thursday, September 12.

Recall efforts against Sen. Pete Lee of Senate District 11 failed on September 10.

Similar recall efforts have recently targeted Senate President Leroy Garcia of Senate District 3.

Proponents of Lee’s recall notified the Secretary of State’s Office that they would not submit the recall petition signatures required by 5 p.m. September 10.

The petition needed 11,304 signatures to recall Lee, who was targeted for sponsoring legislation to create a paid family and medical leave program to be funded by a mandatory fee on businesses and employees.

Garcia, who won his reelection in November with more than 70% of the vote, was targeted for recall after voting for a bill to restrict oil and gas production in Colorado.

If proponents for Garcia’s recall gather 13,506 signatures by the petition deadline of October 18, the effort will trigger a special election that could be held in District 3 in early 2020.

The Hawaii Senate will convene in special session on September 16 to review gubernatorial nominees to the state courts.

The gubernatorial nominees up for consideration by the Senate are:

• • • Clyde J. Wadsworth to the Intermediate Court of Appeals as associate judge for a term of 10 years
    • Kevin A.K. Souza to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Lisa W. Cataldo to the First Circuit Court for a term to expire in 10 years
    • Ronald G. Johnson to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Trish K. Morikawa to the First Circuit Court for a term to expire in 10 years
    • John M. Tonaki to the First Circuit Court for a 10-year term
    • Jeffrey A. Hawk to the Third District Court for a six-year term

Hearings on the appointees before the Senate Committee on Judiciary are scheduled to begin on September 10.

State Rep. Ed Rynders announced his resignation from House District 152.

Rynders suffered a heart attack over the summer and cited his ongoing health issues for his resignation.

Gov. Brian Kemp announced a special election on November 5 to fill the vacant seat.

The winner of the special election will complete the remaining year of Rynders’ term.

A coalition of Coloradans failed to collect enough signatures to force a special election to recall Gov. Jared Polis.

The leaders of the recall announced they fell short of the 631,266 signatures needed by the recall petition deadline of the end of the day on September 6 .

There were approximately 300,000 total signatures counted.

Gov. Gary Herbert called for a special session of the Utah Legislature to convene on September 16.

The session will focus on issues related to dispensing medical cannabis, appropriating census funding, and making several other technical adjustments.

Legislators will have an opportunity to discuss and receive public comments on the issues, deliberate on matters, and take possible action.

El Paso City Council voted to hold a special election on November 5 to replace a District 3 councilwoman after a Facebook post on her public page announced her candidacy for mayor.

The post by city Rep. Cassandra Hernandez, which was later deleted, triggered a resign-to-run law.

The law states that an elected official must resign from office upon announcing a run for another seat.

Rep. Hernandez said she did not upload the post but one of her supporters did.

Hernandez asked city leaders to use their discretion to vote no and asked to be able to vote.

However, her request to vote was denied and the special election for her position was approved with a 4-3 vote.

Hernandez cannot run for her seat in the special election because she is under a holdover clause, meaning she is keeping the seat until her successor fills it.

The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) has unveiled a template contract for cities, counties, and districts allowing the FPPC to enforce local ethics and campaign finance laws.

The FPPC voted earlier this year to pursue agreements with localities to bring enhanced transparency and cost savings to local governments.

The template contract spells out the scope of work including advising, informing, auditing, and enforcing any local campaign finance and ethics ordinances, and the amount paid to the FPPC for such services.

The FPPC will ensure candidates and campaigns are following the rules and public officials are adhering to ethical standards.

Additionally, the FPPC will provide a service already in place so local governments don’t have to create their own.

The template contract can be found on the FPPC website.