The Maine Legislature is polling members to decide if they should return for a special session.

The President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House may call a special session if they have the consent of the majority of members.

Legislators want to finish business from the regular session regarding Medicaid expansion and minimum wage increases.

If agreed upon, the special session will likely be called for June 19.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission voted Friday to increase lobbying and campaign finance fees to avoid a potential financial crisis.

Because the Legislature refused to give the agency any money from the general revenue fund, the commission could run out of money next fiscal year.

In the past, the commission was given an appropriation to use for operational expenses. It then used the money generated from fees to fund ethics investigations.

This year; however, the Legislature instructed the agency to use fees as its sole source of funding.

Commissioners claim lawmakers failed to fund the agency in retaliation for imposing strict ethics rules. The commission is expected to file suit with the Oklahoma Supreme Court to address the lack of funding.

All registration fees will increase $100 effective July 1.

My employer makes corporate contributions in California.  We have not yet exceeded $10,000 in calendar year 2018.  The primary election and special elections are taking place, along with the general election in the fall.  If we decide to make contributions, when do we have a late contribution report due?

The California “Late Contribution Report” [Form 497], sometimes referred to as the “24-hour report” is due during the 90-day period preceding any election if all of the following criteria are met:

• The contribution is $1,000 or more, or multiple contributions aggregating $1,000 or more, to a single candidate, ballot measure committee, or political party.  This includes non-monetary and in-kind contributions…Read the full article

For more information, be sure to check out the “Registration and Reports Required” section of the U.S. Political Contributions Compliance Laws online publication for California. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

Click here to read ALL Ask the Experts articles in full

The filing deadline to run for the Kansas Senate seat in District 13 passed setting up unopposed elections for both the Democratic and Republican primaries on August 7.

Incumbent state Sen. Richard Hilderbrand will run against the primary winners in the special election set for November 6.

Hilderbrand was appointed last year when former Sen. Jacob LaTurner accepted the position of state treasurer.

The winner of the special election will complete the remaining two years of LaTurner’s term.

Gov. Steve Bullock announced he will sign an executive order to further Montana’s goal of shedding light on dark money spending in elections.

The executive order applies to new contracts for goods over $50,000 and new services contracts over $25,000 and requires government contractors who have spent more than $2,500 in the past two years in elections to disclose their donations.

The executive order aims to shed light on contributions not otherwise required to be disclosed.

Gov. Bullock will sign the executive order into law on June 8, 2018.

On May 24, the New Hampshire Legislature adjourned its final full day in session.

The Legislature introduced a bill creating a full-time investigator position within the Department of Justice to enforce filing and disclosure requirements for election and lobbying laws, but it did not pass.

Recessed until the next call of the chair by the House and Senate, the legislative body may meet again for a veto session in the fall.

When lawmakers meet to organize in December for the 2019 legislative session, the 2018 session will be adjourned sine die.

State Sen. John Courson resigned from the South Carolina Legislature on Monday, June 4, after pleading guilty to willful misconduct and agreeing to cooperate with ongoing ethics investigations.

Courson, a former Senate president pro tempore who served 33 years in the state Legislature, was indicted last year on multiple corruption charges stemming from his conversion of campaign money for personal use.

A special election will be called to fill the District 20 seat.

The Louisiana Legislature adjourned a special session late Monday night after passing a skeleton budget similar to one vetoed by Gov. Jon Bel Edwards at the end of the regular session in mid-May.

Lawmakers wanted a more robust budget but were unable to pass enough tax bills to fund it. The approved budget makes deep cuts to public universities and other state agencies.

Gov. Edwards has not said whether he will veto the passed budget but announced he will call another special session before the current fiscal year ends on July 1.

If the passed budget is signed by the Governor, Lawmakers will need to fund about $500 million in expiring taxes to avoid the dramatic budget cuts currently on the table.

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned its spring session on Thursday, May 31. Prior to adjournment, lawmakers passed a $38.5 billion budget for the next fiscal year.

Legislators also approved a bill with a series of ethics reforms related to complaints filed, investigated, or pending with the state’s inspectors general. The position of the legislative inspector general (LIG) will be a full-time permanent post, rather than the temporary special position it is now.

While the changes are a step in the right direction, many argue the reforms do not go far enough in making the complaint process more responsive. Critics are pushing for the LIG to be a completely independent position.

Currently, the LIG cannot investigate an ethics complaint made against legislators or legislative staff unless or until it receives permission from the Legislative Ethics Commission, a bipartisan panel of legislators.

The annual six-day veto session for the 100^th General Assembly convenes November 13.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Michelle Fischbach resigned from Senate District 13, ending the controversy of her simultaneously holding both offices.

Gov. Mark Dayton has called a special for November 6, 2018. The special primary election, if necessary, will be held on August 14, 2018.

Photo of Lt. Gov. Fischbach by David Oakes on Wikimedia Commons.

Phoenix Mayor Greg Stanton resigned this week to run for a seat in the U.S. Congress. Arizona has a resign to run law, forcing Stanton to leave his position to campaign for a different office.

Thelda Williams, a council member representing Phoenix’s District One, will serve as the interim mayor until June 11 when the Phoenix City Council will appoint a mayor pro tempore who will serve until a special election is held. The special election will likely take place on November 6, 2018 along with the state’s regularly scheduled elections.

Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens has announced his resignation amid potential impeachment proceedings. Greitens was indicted in February on a felony invasion of privacy charge stemming from an affair; he was charged with another felony in April related to the improper use of a nonprofit donor list to raise money for his 2016 political campaign. After he refused to step down, the Missouri Legislature convened a special session this month to consider possible impeachment proceedings.

Though he admitted to the affair, Greitens has consistently denied any criminal misconduct. His resignation is effective Friday, June 1.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Montana’s campaign spending disclosure laws this week.

The three-judge panel ruled the law is not unconstitutionally vague and requiring groups spending money on electioneering communications to report their donors is proper.

The law, proposed by Gov. Steve Bullock and passed by the Legislature in 2015, still has wide bipartisan support.

Montanans for Community Development, the group challenging the disclosure laws, asserted the requirements were vague and overly broad, giving too much enforcement discretion to the commissioner of political practices. They also argued being required to file electronic campaign reports may be unconstitutional, a point the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals called absurd.

The current commissioner, Jeff Mangan, said he and his office are pleased with the ruling.

Lawmakers reconvene today in Montpelier for a special session called by Gov. Phil Scott.

The focus of the special session will be on the state budget and property tax bills passed by the General Assembly during the regular session.

Gov. Scott has signaled to the Legislature his plan to veto both bills in their present form.