The Minnesota Legislature is considering two bills proposing an overhaul to the lobbyist reporting requirements.

Senate File 1636 requires lobbyist principals to report the total amount, spent by the principal during the preceding calendar year on each of four types of lobbying:

1. Lobbying to influence legislative action
2. Lobbying to influence administrative action
3. Lobbying to influence official action of political subdivisions
4. Lobbying to influence administrative action in cases of rate setting, power plant and powerline siting, with no rounding of the amounts, so lobbyist principals will be reporting actual amount spent for each category of lobbying.

House File 1723 requires lobbyist principals to report the total amount, rounded to the nearest $10,000 spent by the principal during the preceding calendar year on each of four types of lobbying:

1. Lobbying to influence legislative action
2. Lobbying to influence administrative action
3. Lobbying to influence official action of political subdivisions
4. Lobbying to influence administrative action in cases of rate setting, power plant and powerline siting, and granting of certificates of need for a large energy facility.

Currently principals are only required to report the total amount, rounded to the nearest $20,000, for all categories.

The Virginia Legislature officially passed and adopted Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s recommendation concerning Senate Bill 1427, which relates to campaign finance laws, political action committees (PACs), and certain large pre-election expenditures.

The bill changes some of the reporting dates while also adding an additional report.

The reports previously due on July 15 and October 15 will be due on June 1 and September 15 with an additional report due on October 15.

PACs must also report any single contribution received or expenditure made of $1,000 or more between the dates of May 26 and the third Tuesday in June, and between October 8 and the date of the November general election.

The bill will take effect on July 1.

The 445th Maryland General Assembly adjourned from their 90-day session on April 10.

Passed legislation includes the Fair Wage Act of 2023 and the Family Prosperity Act of 2023.

These bills are aimed toward reducing child poverty and raising the minimum wage which will increase wages for approximately 163,000 workers, and ultimately benefit 120,000 children in the state.

The Nashville Metropolitan Council voted unanimously 36-0 to reappoint State Rep. Justin Jones to the House District 52 seat.

The Shelby County Board of Commissioners also voted unanimously to reappoint State Rep. Justin Pearson to House District 86 seat.

Jones and Pearson were expelled from the House on April 7 following a protest on the House floor.

Jones and Pearson will serve as interim representatives until the special elections for their seats are held.

The Public Disclosure Commission certified increases in reporting and contribution limits in response to inflation.

The inflationary adjustments touch almost every threshold and limit.

Contribution limits increase from $1,000 to $1,200 for state and county legislative candidates and from $2,000 to $2,400 for other state offices.

Limits for political parties increase from $5,500 to $6,000.

State Representatives Justin Jones and Justin J. Pearson were officially expelled from the legislature after individual resolutions were brought by Republicans proposing their removal.

A procedural vote cleared the chamber, and the two-thirds vote of the House needed to formally expel the representatives was received.

The lawmakers’ districts comprised the cities of Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis.

Rep. Gloria Johnson also faced expulsion but was not removed as the two-thirds vote failed by a single vote.

Special elections will be held to fill the seats vacated by the two members.

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die on April 5 after a little over 90 days in session.

This session was highlighted by increased funding for hospitals, roads, and bridges, along with a $100 million dollar increase in educational funding.

The lobbyist end-of-session activity report is due April 15.

The City Council has voted to raise contribution limits for the 2023 biannual.

The increase reflects changes in the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U).

Contribution limits for councilmembers increased to $2,050 per person and $6,800 per Large Political Committee, and limits for mayor increased to $4,050 per person and $13,550 per Large Political Committee.

Aggregate off-year contributions have been raised to $34,000 and $67,900 per councilmember and mayor, respectively.

The legal defense fund contribution limit has been raised to $1,350 for councilmembers and mayors.

The 2023 regular session of the Kentucky General Assembly adjourned sine die on March 30.

A procurement bill and a bill requiring special elections for Louisville passed.

House Bill 0522 increases the small purchase amounts for public agencies from $30,000 to $40,000 before requiring a newspaper advertisement seeking bids.

House Bill 0191 requires a special election must be held 60 days after the declaration of vacancy, to fill an open Louisville Metro Council seat if the vacancy occurs over three months before a regular election.

Several Campaign finance bills did not pass, including:

• A bill requiring campaign consultants to register
• A bill permitting paper filings
• A bill prohibiting candidates, committees, and contributing organizations from making an expenditure to an intermediary.

The Georgia Campaign Finance Commission has voted to approve the increase to the campaign contribution limits.

The limit for statewide offices increased from $800 to $8,400 for each primary and general election and from $400 to $4,800 for each runoff.

The limit for other offices increased from $300 to $3,300 for each general and primary election and from $200 to $1,800 for each runoff.

These changes are effective immediately.

On April 3, Gov. Murphy signed Senate Bill 2866, the Elections Transparency Act.

The act doubles the limit on contributions to candidates; triples contribution limits to state and political parties; and decreases the threshold for reporting contributions from $300 to $200.

The act also creates additional independent expenditure reporting requirements and eliminates local pay-to-play rules, replacing them with the statewide pay-to-play law.

The Election Law Enforcement Commission’s operations are also affected.

The agency will now have only two years, instead of 10, to investigate violations of campaign finance law and Murphy is permitted to appoint an entirely new slate of commissioners to the Election Law Enforcement Commission without Senate approval in the next 90 days.

The new campaign finance limits and independent expenditure reporting requirements go into effect on June 27, while the provisions affecting state and local pay-to-play law took effect immediately.

A special election has been scheduled to fill the upcoming vacancy in the state’s 1^st Congressional District.

The seat will become vacant when Rep. David Cicilline’s resignation takes effect on June 1.

A primary election will be held on September 5, followed by a general election on November 7.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the term set to expire on January 3, 2025.

The 98th session of the Legislature adjourned sine die on March 27.

During the session, lawmakers passed House Bill 1060 increasing the threshold for requiring a purchasing agency to advertise for bids or proposals for a contract for the purchase of supplies or services, other than professional services, from $25,000 to $50,000 and any public improvement contract from $50,000 to $100,000.

A lobbying bill prohibiting the spouse of a member of the legislature from being employed as a lobbyist and a campaign finance bill to increase contribution limits did not pass.

State senators Rob McColley and Theresa Gavarone introduced Senate Bill 92, a bill to permit special elections to be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in August under any of the following circumstances:

• For the purpose of submitting a statewide ballot issue to the voters under Section 1 of Article XVI, Ohio Constitution
• When a primary election is required preceding a special election to fill a vacancy in an office
• For the election of a party candidate for U.S. Congress due to the withdrawal, disqualification, or death of a congressional candidate prior to the 19th day before the day of the general election.

August elections for these purposes were eliminated by a law passed in 2021.