The Mississippi special session adjourned on August 29.

Lawmakers passed House Bill 1 to address infrastructure projects to repair, reconstruct, and provide maintenance to the state’s roads and bridges.

During the special session, lawmakers also passed bills related to the creation of a state lottery and the deposit of funds from the BP oil spill settlement.

The Alabama Code of Ethics Clarification and Reform Commission (Commission), a joint committee of the Alabama Legislature, met on August 28, 2018, to examine potential revisions to the ethics laws.

The meeting was timely as the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld former House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s conviction on 12 felony ethics charges the day before and requested the Legislature clarify provisions of the ethics law. The Commission is considering recommending altering the definition of principal to include a person with the authority to fire or direct the lobbyist.

Other changes discussed included a tiered penalty system for violations of the law and provisions allowing public officials to maintain certain business relationships during their time as a public official.

The Commission is scheduled to meet again on September 20, 2018.

The Denver City Council approved a ballot initiative proposing the creation of a dedicated fund to match campaign donations of up to $50 per donor to candidates participating in the program.

The measure also requires public disclosure of all campaign spending, lowers contribution limits, and eliminates campaign contributions from corporations or labor organizations.

The ballot measure will be decided by voters in a special election held concurrently with the general election on November 6. If passed, the ordinance is effective January 1, 2020.

Sen. Bill Ketron submitted his resignation for the 13^th District seat on Monday, effective August 31.

His resignation is taking effect about two months before his term was set to expire.

He is set to become the Rutherford County mayor on September 1.

In April, City Councilman Zeke Cohen introduced an ordinance amending the Baltimore City Ethics Code.

Ordinance No. 18-0230 originally required lobbyists to file reports quarterly instead of annually.

At a work session for the bill, the reporting period was amended from quarterly to semi-annual reporting.

The bill was also amended to require a working online portal by June 1, 2019.

If passed, the ordinance will become effective 30 days after it is enacted.

The North Carolina General Assembly was called into special session yesterday to begin today, August 24, in order rewrite ballot amendment language to shift appointment powers from the governor to the Legislature.

Speaker Tim Moore said legislators plan to make revisions “because the proposals provide a popular bipartisan balance in our state government that will benefit the people of North Carolina.”

This is the second special session this summer to address the ballot language.

Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina are considering coming back to Raleigh to rewrite two ballot questions because a court blocked them from being voted on in November.

Gov. Roy Cooper and the NAACP took issue with the ballot language, and the court ruled in their favor, agreeing the language was unclear.

Legislative leaders, among others in the case, have filed appeals motions.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission deferred a decision on a bill to ban political donations from real estate developers.

Rather than vote down the proposal, commissioners plan to define the scope of coverage for individuals seeking council approval for new developments. They may also choose to explore an alternative option.

They could require elected officials to recuse themselves from development proposal decisions if they have received contributions from the involved developers.

Commission President Serena Oberstein is concerned a ban on developer contributions would lead to money being funneled through independent expenditure committees.

She also questions whether direct contributions actually lead to corruption.

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance has issued an emergency regulation requiring independent expenditure disclosure prior to the primary election on September 4.

“Due to the Labor Day holiday on Sept. 3, the statute would not require independent expenditures made on Aug. 23, 24 and 25 to be disclosed prior to the Sept. 4 primary election. However, independent expenditures made between Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 would be disclosed before the election.”

This emergency regulation will eliminate the gap in disclosure, and now independent expenditures must be disclosed within 24 hours if they are utilized on August 23, 24, or 25.

Attorney James Bopp, Jr. has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Montana’s contribution limits, arguing they are an unconstitutional limit on free speech.

Bopp was an attorney in the well-known Citizens United case, which led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling corporations cannot be prohibited from spending on elections.

Montana’s limits were struck down in 2012 and again in 2015, but the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last October the limits are constitutional.

The U.S. Supreme Court has not yet said if it will take up the case.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed Assembly Bill 3137 into law on August 21, 2018.

The bill bans the use of placement agents by the New York State Common Retirement Fund.

The bill codifies existing policies into law, as the State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli banned the use of placement agents in 2009.

Rep. Dillon Bates resigned today after being accused of manipulating students into sexual relationships while he was a teacher.

After learning of the investigation by the Portland Police Department, Speaker Sara Gideon called for his immediate resignation.

Bates denies the allegations and said he resigned because there are few hours of work left as a legislator this year, and he wants to spend this time clearing his name.

Birmingham, Alabama City Council President Jay Roberson announced he is resigning on September 10.

Roberson’s wife received a promotion at Alabaster City Schools to be a career coach, so the family will be moving to live in the school district.

Due to a lack of funds to hold a special election, Council will make an appointment to fill the remainder of Roberson’s term.

Gov. Ralph Northam signed a proclamation calling Virginia lawmakers into a special session on August 30.

The purpose of the special session is to redraw districts of the House of Delegates.

A U.S. District Court ruled on June 26 that House of Delegates districts were racially gerrymandered to concentrate black voters.

The court ordered new boundaries to be drawn by October 30 for use in next year’s elections.