A judge in Tennessee’s Davidson County Chancery Court ruled against the state today, striking down a law prohibiting political action committees from making contributions to candidates after the 10^th day before an election. Under the law, only political party committees can contribute to candidates in the 10-day window.

Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle ruled in favor of plaintiff Tennesseans for Sensible Election Laws based on insufficient facts from the state to overcome the plaintiff’s argument.

In asserting the prohibition was an overbroad speech restriction, the plaintiff argued elected officials and political parties were “reserving special treatment in the political process for themselves.”

Attorneys for the state announced their intention to file an appeal immediately.

State Senator Steve Fitzgerald resigned from the state Senate on Monday.

A convention will be held by Republican precinct committeemen and committeewomen to select someone to fill the vacancy, and the person selected will be officially appointed by the governor.

The Fifth District includes Leavenworth, Lansing, Piper, and portions of Wyandotte County.

The Los Angeles Unified School District will hold a special election on March 5, 2019, to fill the vacancy for the Board of Education’s District 5 seat.

The seat was vacated earlier this year by Ref Rodriguez, who is currently facing felony and misdemeanor charges related to an alleged money laundering scheme.

A special runoff election will be held on May 14, 2019, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

A special runoff election will be held on November 6 to fill the remainder of Susan Valdes’s term on the Hillsborough County School Board.

Her resignation for the District 1 seat is effective in November.

Former Hillsborough County School District administrator Bill Person will face construction industry executive Steve Cona III in the special runoff election.

The winner will complete the remainder of Valdes’s four-year term.

The Illinois First District Appellate Court upheld Cook County’s ethics ordinance restricting political contributions from persons seeking official action from the county.

Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios challenged the rule earlier this year after the County Board of Ethics fined Berrios for receiving contributions over the $750 limit.

The court ruled self-funding candidates donating over $100,000 to their own campaign only lifted state contribution limits and did not affect any locally imposed limits set by the county.

In a long legal battle, the Oklahoma Ethics Commission lost a battle to receive more funding to carry out its oversight functions.

The Legislature appropriates funds to the Ethics Commission, and it complained to the Supreme Court the legislatures have underfunded it for years in violation of the Constitution.

The court rejected the commission’s complaint 5-4, stating it has money “sufficient to enable it to perform its duties,” which the Constitution says.

The Missouri Supreme Court declined to take on the Clean Missouri ballot initiative case, which means it will appear as an amendment on the ballot this November.

The amendment focuses on ethics reform and state redistricting, and it was challenged because it possibly violated a provision of the Missouri Constitution that limits the scope of initiative petitions and sought to mislead voters.

A trial court agreed, but an appellate court in Kansas City upheld Clean Missouri because all the proposed changes are included under the subject Legislature reform.

On September 20, the Fair Political Practices Commission prohibited the use of cryptocurrency in political contributions in California.

The FPPC stated the anonymity of these donations would make it difficult to discern who is attempting to influence elections.

This is contrary to the position the Federal Election Commission took in 2014, which said cryptocurrencies are in-kind property and federal candidates could accept them as a form of contribution under certain conditions.

This week, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a call for a special session of the state’s legislature to address damage done by Hurricane Florence.

Gov. Cooper intends to call lawmakers back to work on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, to get state funding approved for recovery efforts.

An official proclamation for the special session has not yet been issued but it is expected in coming weeks.

This will be the third special session called to address hurricane damage in the state’s history.

The North Carolina State Board of Ethics (NCSBE) released a statement this week extending the due date of September lobbyist and principal monthly expense report.

The report, originally due on September 14, 2018, will now be due on September 21, 2018 because of the effects of Hurricane Florence.

If the extended deadline still cannot be met because of the hurricane, contact the NCSBE.

The monthly report is due only if a lobbyist or principal incurred reportable expenditures in the month of August.

The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania overturned the Commonwealth’s prohibition on political contributions from gaming-license applicants, licensees, and principals of licensees.

Judge Sylvia Rambo concluded Section 1513 of the Gaming Act is an unconstitutional limit on the First Amendment right of political association. Rambo stated the prohibition furthers a substantially important interest in preventing corruption, but is not closely drawn to achieve that interest.

The judgment opens the possibility for the Legislature to rewrite the statute to be narrowly tailored to achieve its purpose.

The Gaming Control Board is also reviewing the option to appeal the decision to the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

County Executive Steve Schuh proposed a bill to County Council to amend the county ethics provisions.

Bill No. 80-18 increases late filing fee for lobbyists and employees, adds a revolving door provision, modifies certain definitions, requires employee ethics training, and creates changes to comply with state ethics laws, among other provisions. The bill also updates who is required to file financial disclosure statements.

At the September 17 council meeting, an amendment passed to remove an exemption for free tickets and admission to certain events.

Earlier this year, New Mexico passed the Local Election Act, which consolidates various nonpartisan local elections into one election in November of odd-numbered years. The law’s main goal is to save taxpayer money and increase voter turnout.

However, local school districts are suffering. Albuquerque Public Schools are projecting $1 million in administrative costs to facilitate their upcoming bond election, because the new law states special elections must be completed by mail.

The Santa Fe School Board voted unanimously to ask the New Mexico School Boards Association and the other 88 school districts to request lawmakers amend the law and restore the School Election Law, allowing regular elections to resume in February, when they previously were held, or special elections by mail if needed.

The U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the Illinois Disclosure and Regulation of Campaign Contributions and Expenditures Act.

In 2012, Liberty PAC filed a lawsuit claiming the Illinois campaign finance law violates the First Amendment by restricting contributions from individual donors, allowing political parties to make unlimited donations during a general election, creating a waiver provision that lifts spending limits, and allowing unlimited contributions from legislative caucus committees.

The U.S. District Court dismissed the first three claims at the pleadings stage due to precedent and conducted a bench trial on the fourth issue and ruled for the state.

The U.S. Circuit Court panel affirmed the lower court’s decision in its entirety and the plaintiffs intend to appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.