Gov. Jim Justice called the West Virginia Legislature to convene a special session to address improvements to public education and pay raises for school teachers.

Speaker Roger Hanshaw said the House would go through a feedback gathering process that could take a couple months or more, and that the special session would likely meet a couple days each month before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

The regular session is scheduled to adjourn sine die on March 9.

Nevada Senate Majority Leader Kelvin Atkinson resigned his seat this week after announcing he would plead guilty to federal wire fraud for misusing campaign funds.

Nevada Democrats then unanimously elected Sen. Nicole Cannizzaro to replace Atkinson.

Cannizzaro, a district attorney in Clark County, will be the first female to serve as Senate Majority leader in Nevada.

Atkinson, who spent 17 years in the Assembly and the Senate, was married to his partner in the state’s first same-sex marriage once legalized in 2014.

A special election to fill Atkinson’s seat has not yet been called.

Steve Seroka, Las Vegas City Councilman representing Ward 2, resigned this week effective immediately.

No details surrounding has resignation were released.

It is now up to the City Council to decide to hold a special election or appoint someone to fill the rest of Seroka’s term ending in 2021.

Sekora, who had been facing a recall effort, was elected in 2017.

A Senate bill introduced in Wisconsin aims to lower by half contributions made to statewide officeholders from individuals and candidate committees.

Senate Bill 76 would reduce the contribution limit from $20,000 to $10,000 for contributions made to candidates for governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, attorney general, state superintendent, or justice.

If passed, the bill would take effect January 1, 2020.

Gov. Kim Reynolds called a special election for Senate District 30.

The special election has been called to fill the vacancy left by the resignation of State Sen. Jeff Danielson.

After serving 15 years with the Iowa Senate, Danielson has resigned to work with the American Wind Energy Association.

Reynolds has set the special election for March 19, 2019.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold will host a town hall on campaign finance reform from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on March 6 in Boulder.

Griswold previously announced her policy priorities on January 17, calling for meaningful campaign finance reform by expanding the “paid for by” disclosure requirements on political advertisements and exercising the Office of the Secretary of State’s audit and enforcement power to act on campaign finance, ballot access, and lobbyist violations.

Griswold is hosting town hall discussions around the state to discuss her campaign finance reform objectives.

Senate Bills 249 and 256 have been passed by the Legislature are on the way to Gov. Asa Hutchinson’s desk.

Senate Bill 249 increases the fines for violating ethics laws the Arkansas Ethics Commission may levy at violators from $2,000 to $3,500.

Senate Bill 256 prohibits an elected state official from registering as a lobbyist in any jurisdiction while serving as an elected state official.

If signed by the governor, the bills will become effective 90 days after the legislative session adjourns sine die.

Gov. Kay Ivey has called a special session to begin March 6, 2019.

The special session will focus on legislation related to a gas and diesel fuel tax.

Calling the special session suspends the regular session and allows the gas tax bill to pass with a majority vote, as opposed to the three-fifths vote required during a regular session.

The regular session is expected to re-convene on March 19.

The city of Chicago is currently revising its mandatory lobbyist ethics training course for 2018-2019.

Program Director Edward Primer of the Chicago Board of Ethics said he anticipates the training will be available in mid-March.

A notice will be sent to all registered lobbyists when the training becomes available.

The Maine Legislature’s Veterans and Legal Affairs Committee voted 8-1 in support of Sen. Ben Chipman’s proposal to reduce from $850 to $500 the maximum contribution to candidates seeking municipal office.

Legislative Document 780 faces additional votes in the House and Senate.

If enacted, the bill would take effect January 1, 2020.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced a special election on April 16 for House District 19.

The seat was vacated by the resignation of Derek Slap who won the special election for Senate District 5.

The winner will serve the remainder of Slap’s term until 2020.

On February 28, the South Dakota House of Representatives voted to restrict campaign contributions from minors.

Senate Bill 114, which passed the state Senate unanimously, requires contributions from unemancipated minors to go towards the contribution limit of their parents.

This loophole gained attention during Sioux Falls’s last mayoral election, when a local business owner and each of his five children, ages six to 15, gave the maximum $1,000 to Paul TenHaken’s campaign.

The bill is headed for Gov. Kristi Noem’s desk for consideration.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission’s electronic filing system for lobbying disclosures is now available.

The E-Filing System allows for filing of lobbyist registrations and expenditures reports.

The E-Filing system is available at: https://hawaiiethics.force.com/lobbying/s/

This week, information was released showing many members of the Dallas City Council have committed apparent violations of the city’s campaign finance laws.

Some councilmembers have said the violations are due to errors in reporting made in good faith.

In addition to receiving contributions from minors, many received contributions over the city-imposed limits. Currently, no body or office is responsible for oversight of campaign finance reporting in Dallas.

To further the problem, the city disagrees about whether the ethics panel could investigate campaign finance violation complaints, or whether the responsibility would fall on the city secretary.

The city has asked the Texas Ethics Commission to intervene, but the state commission has declined to get involved.

Currently, Dallas has a $1,000 individual contribution limit per election cycle for City Council races and a $5,000 individual cap on mayoral races.