The Kansas Legislature adjourned sine die on May 29.

Lawmakers adjourned earlier in the month to allow the governor time to appoint a candidate to the Kansas Court of Appeals.

On Wednesday, the Senate approved Sarah Warner to fill the vacant seat.

During the 59-day legislative session lawmakers introduced House Bill 2010 and Senate Bill 51.

The bills provide for restrictions on state officers and employees from engaging in lobbying for a specific period after resignation or expiration of employment.

Both bills failed to pass their respective chambers this session and will carryover to 2020.

The Vermont General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 29.

During the session the Legislature introduced a bill changing lobbying reporting dates from the 15th to the 3rd of the month.

Lawmakers also introduced Senate Bill 157, proposing to grant the ethics commission authority to adopt an enforceable code of ethics, adjudicate complaints, and impose penalties upon finding a violation.

Both bills will carryover to 2020 as they failed to pass this legislative session.

Gov. Jared Polis signed The Clean Campaign Act of 2019 into law on May 29, increasing disclosure of political spending.

House Bill 1318 extends existing restrictions barring a foreign corporation from making independent expenditures.

Restrictions now include a natural person who is not a citizen of the United States or a foreign government.

The bill expands existing disclaimer requirements by requiring a disclaimer to include communication placed on a website, streaming media service, or an online forum for a fee, or that is otherwise distributed.

Additionally, the bill ensures that corporations spending money on ballot initiatives disclose that they paid for the communication.

The bill took effect upon the governor’s signature.

Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a resolution on May 28 to disapprove proposed amendments to the state ethics rules relating to lobbying and campaign finance.

Senate Joint Resolution 22 rejects rule amendments submitted by the Ethics Commission during the 2019 legislative session.

Among the proposals rejected was Proposed Rule 2019-01, which would have added a definition to “coordination” or “coordinated” for purposes of determining what is considered a contribution in a campaign for elected state office.

The resolution also disapproved Proposed Rule 2019-03, which would have provided a two-year waiting period before an individual who served as an elected state officer or chief administrative officer of a state agency may lobby, or be paid to influence an action of the legislature or the entity the officer previously served.

Proposed Rule 2019-04, which sought to prohibit candidates from directing contributions from a limited political action committee to one or more candidates or candidate committees, was also rejected.

The proposed rules would have taken effect after adjournment sine die of the legislative session.

Gov. Larry Hogan allowed two election law bills to become law without his signature.

House Bill 878 alters fees due for failure to file campaign finance reports or affidavits.

The bill raises the fees from $10 each day a report or affidavit is overdue to $20 for each of the first seven days.

Thereafter, the fee increases to $35 for the next seven days, and $50 for each day after that.

The maximum fee for overdue reports or affidavits has also been raised from $500 to $1,000.

House Bill 1025 authorizes the state administrator of elections or the state administrator’s designee to investigate potential violations of coordinated expenditure provisions.

The bill also authorizes the administrator to, in furtherance of an investigation, issue a subpoena for the attendance of a witness to testify.

The state administrator may also subpoena for the production of records.

House Speaker Mike Turzai announced a special election for House District 85 on August 20.

The seat is vacant after Fred Keller won a special election to fill the U.S. House District 12 seat.

The winner of the special election will complete Keller’s term until November 30, 2020.

The Elections Commission adopted legislative rules to enforce the provisions in Senate Bill 622.

Provisions include increasing campaign contribution limits and disclosure requirements for PACs and independent expenditure groups.

The commission worked on language to better clarify what committees and organizations are required to file contribution and spending disclosures.

It was also determined the law applies to organizations whose major or primary purpose is to influence the outcome of elections by spending money to support or oppose particular candidates or issues.

However, the law does not apply to other ballot issues such as referenda on proposed constitutional amendments.

The legislative rules will need to be approved by the full Legislature as part of its rule-making review process.

The process must happen during the 2020 regular session for the changes to go into effect before the 2020 elections.

Minnesota’s one-day special session ended early Saturday morning.

The session ended with the legislature passing a $48 billion budget to fund the government for the next two years.

The outline of the budget was agreed to during the regular session, which ended on May 20 after reaching the maximum number of days the state’s constitution permitted.

A budget deal needed to be finalized by July 1 to avert a shutdown.

Allen Superior Court Judge Jennifer DeGroote heard arguments on Wednesday in a case focused on a 2018 Fort Wayne City Council ordinance.

The ordinance limits financial contributions of contractors and their family members to political campaigns in Fort Wayne.

The measure prohibits business entities from bidding on city contracts if any officer, partner, or principal with more than 10% ownership has donated more than $2,000 to a campaign of someone with ultimate responsibility for awarding city contracts.

Kyle and Kimberly Suzanne Witwer filed the suit in April challenging the ordinance and requesting a judge block it’s implementation.

While no ruling was made on Wednesday, both sides must submit proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law by Friday.

There could be a potential ruling next week.

The main issue being considered at this time is whether state contribution laws make this ordinance unnecessary.

On May 21, 2019, Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5861.

The bill extends respectful workplace code of conduct provisions to all members of the legislative community.

Effective July 28, 2019, Senate Bill 5861 requires The Chief Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the Senate to develop a training course based on the legislative code of conduct and any policies adopted by either chamber.

Lobbyists will be required to attest to reading and completing the training course when filing a lobbyist registration statement with the Public Disclosure Commission.

Lobbyists currently registered are required to update registration materials to include the attestation by December 31, 2019.

The Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on May 20, the latest possible day the state constitution allowed it to be in regular session.

Lawmakers reached a bipartisan budget deal after extensive negotiations.

However, Gov. Tim Walz will need to call a special session for lawmakers to work out and vote on the details.

Gov. Jared Polis signed the Lobbyist Transparency Act into law on May 20, shining new light on the disclosure requirements of lobbyists and their clients.

House Bill 1248 increases transparency by stopping attorneys registered as professional lobbyists from asserting confidentiality in order to conceal client information and lobbying activity.

The bill provides that when the general assembly is in regular or special session, a professional lobbyist must notify the secretary of state within 72 hours of agreeing to lobby in connection with new legislation or taking a new position on a new or existing bill for a new or existing client.

Additionally, the bill instructs the secretary of state to form a working group to upgrade the electronic filing system in order to ease the use of data reported and to increase overall transparency.

The secretary of state must convene the working group no later than July 1, and the group must meet at least once before December 31.

On Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States announced it would decline to hear a challenge to a Massachusetts law.

The law in question bans corporate contributions to campaigns, parties and candidate-focused political action committees.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court unanimously rejected the challenge, brought by 1A Auto Inc. and 126 Self Storage Inc., in September.

The suit claimed disparate treatment by banning for-profit corporate contributions while allowing significant contributions by unions and nonprofits.

After the Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United, state law was updated to allow corporate spending for independent expenditures but not political contributions.

Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey applauded Monday’s decision not to hear the case for the integrity of state elections.

Opponents of the law are hopeful the Supreme Court will take up the issue in another case.

Top North Dakota officials are working towards forming a new panel to oversee ethical standards in state government as a result of last year’s passage of Measure 1.

Gov. Doug Burgum’s office is accepting applications for the new ethics commission through May 24 and hopes to have members selected by July 1.

The five commissioners will be chosen by consensus agreement of the governor and the Senate’s majority and minority leaders.

The state constitution bars certain people from serving on the commission including lobbyists, political party officials, and those who hold statewide elected or appointed office.