Gov. Asa Hutchinson stated he is going to call a special session after the ongoing fiscal session concludes.

The special session will address pharmacy benefit managers’ low reimbursement rates to pharmacists and a current law preventing Arkansas from qualifying for certain federal highway funds.

Hutchinson has yet to set a date for the special session.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has scheduled a special election on August 14, 2018, to fill the state Senate District 8 seat vacated by Jake Files.

The primary will be May 22 and a primary runoff, if necessary, on June 19.

Files resigned after pleading guilty to charges of wire fraud, bank fraud, and money laundering.

A special session of the Louisiana Legislature on the state’s budget troubles convenes February 19 at 4 p.m., and centers on closing the budget gap by replacing expiring taxes or allowing deep cuts across agencies statewide.

Gov. John Bel Edwards called the session hoping to convince the Republican led Legislature to renew expiring taxes to fix the deficit.

Taxes cannot be considered during a regular session of the legislature, requiring a special session to address and propose taxation legislation.

The special session must adjourn by March 7 at midnight, five days ahead of the regularly schedule legislative session set to convene March 12.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on February 16 that a special election will take place for House District 13 on May 5 to replace state Rep. Leighton Schubert.

Schubert resigned on February 4 to do legal work for Blinn College.

Early voting for this election will begin on April 23.

Pictured: Former Rep. Leighton Schubert

The New Mexico Legislature adjourned sine die on February 15.

Bills that have passed both chambers include Senate Bill 50, which creates stricter contribution policies made via the internet by a credit card or a debit card to a candidate or PAC, and Senate Bill 67, which changes lobbying reports to also include the cumulative total of all individual expenditures of less than $100 made or incurred by the employer or lobbyist.

The governor has 20 days from adjournment to sign any bills passed by the Legislature, otherwise they are pocket vetoed.

The North Carolina General Assembly adjourned its reconvened session on Tuesday, February 13. Lawmakers passed a single piece of legislation, House Bill 90.

The bill reduces class-sizes for kindergarten through third grade in addition to changing the makeup of the elections and ethics board.

Last month, the North Carolina Supreme Court struck down the board, which was supposed to be comprised of four Democrats and four Republicans.

The bill would add a ninth board member who could be neither a Democrat nor a Republican.

Gov. Cooper has 30 days to sign, veto, or let the bill become law without his signature.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission recently submitted its 2018 Promulgated Ethics Rules to the governor and both houses of the Legislature.

Proposed changes include, but are not limited to, a revolving door provision prohibiting elected state officers and chief administrative officers from lobbying for two years following their terms of office or service, new rules regarding the due dates of electronic filings, and revised reporting periods for candidate election reports and independent expenditure reports.

If the Legislature chooses not to reject the proposed rule changes, all amendments will be effective upon adjournment sine die of the 2018 regular legislative session.

Gov. Tom Wolf signed House Bill 1175 into law, amending filing requirements and penalties for lobbyists.

The new law requires electronic filing of lobbying disclosures and increases the monetary penalties assessed for late reports.

Fines between $50 and $200 per day, depending on the number of days late, can now be levied and the maximum penalty increases from $2,000 to $4,000.

These new penalties take effect immediately and the electronic filing requirement takes effect in 60 days.

The Missouri Senate made changes to the lobbyist gift ban passed by the House last month. The bill must pass the Senate before returning to the House for debate.

The original version banned most gifts from lobbyists, while the Senate’s version allows officeholders to accept up to $40 of gifts per day. The amended bill would also allow officials to reimburse lobbyists for gifts exceeding $40 and permit lobbyists to cover a legislator’s constituent expenditures.

If a lawmaker accepts an event ticket from a lobbyist, however, the bill requires the lobbyist to attend the event with the lawmaker.

While the Senate’s version of the bill is less stringent than the House version, it is still considered a step towards ethics reform.

Current law permits elected officials to receive unlimited gifts of any value.

The Seattle Ethics and Election Commission accused Facebook of not complying with a city political advertisement disclosure law.

The law requires companies selling political ads to disclose information about advertisement buys, including information on the exact nature and extent of such advertisements and names and addresses of purchasers.

Facebook provided records at the request of the Ethics and Election Commission, but those records were inadequate, according to the Ethics and Election Commission.

Facebook could be liable for up to $5,000 per violation.

On January 30, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) submitted a Notice of Revised Rulemaking for Part 943, commonly referred to as Comprehensive Lobbying Regulations, to the New York Department of State. The revised rules include an online ethics training requirement for lobbyists.

Additionally, the revised rules provide further clarification regarding reportable expenses attributable to social media activities and grassroots lobbying.

New York’s rule making process requires an additional comment period once a Notice of Revised Rulemaking is filed and published in the New York State Register.

The new comment period expires on March 16, and the revised rules are available at http://www.jcope.ny.gov/advice/complobbyregulations.html.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has set Friday as a deadline to determine whether a special session of the Legislature will be called to close a $1 billion fiscal cliff in the state’s budget expiring in July of this year.

The session would begin February 19 and adjourn before the regularly scheduled legislative session set to convene March 12. Legislators from both parties have been working to get close enough to a resolution for Gov. Edwards to call the special session.

A special session to remedy the budget shortfall could also be called in June if it does not happen by March.

Under a California bill introduced on February 6, registered lobbyists could face suspension up to four years if found to have committed an act of sexual harassment.

Assembly Bill 2055 requires the Fair Political Practices Commission to investigate sexual harassment complaints made against registered lobbyists.

Sexual harassment would be defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature that arises out of or in the course of employment.

Last year, County Exec. Kevin Kamenetz signed Bill No. 35-17 into law.

The bill requires registered lobbyists to complete ethics training within the first six months of registration and once a year thereafter.

Training sessions have been scheduled at 9:30 a.m. on February 8 and June 4. Registration for the either training is available at the baltimore county website.