Special election primaries have been scheduled to fill the California Assembly District 45 and Assembly District 54 seats. The special election primaries will be held on April 3.

Under special-election rules, if no candidate gets an outright majority of votes on April 3, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will be held June 5.

Matt Dababneh, who represented District 45, resigned his seat after being accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.

Sebastian Ridley-Thomas, who represented District 54, resigned because of health problems.

With a 6-1 vote, Spokane, Washington City Council overrode Mayor David Condon’s veto of a campaign finance reform ordinance.

The new ordinance will cut in half the maximum allowable donation to candidates, from $1,000 to $500.

Additional changes include a pay-to-play provision to prohibit contributions from contractors, a restriction on when contributions may be received, and a requirement to disclose a committee’s top donors.

House Speaker Mike Turzai announced special elections to fill two vacant seats in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

Special elections for the 48^th and 178^th districts will be held on May 15, which is the same day as the primary election.

The winner of the special election will serve until November 30. The winner of the general election will be sworn into a two-year term in December.

Secretary of State Brian Kemp announced the special election to fill the 175^th House District will be held on February 13, 2018.

If no candidate receives a majority of the vote, a special runoff election will be held on March 13, 2018.

The district covers Brooks County and portions of Thomas and Lowndes counties.

Florida legislators have proposed several bills that would reform how lobbyists do business in the state.

House Bill 7003 makes changes to the Florida Code of Ethics and would develop a system track and publish lobbyists registrations.

House Bill 7005 requires a person who wishes to lobby a local governmental entity to electronically register as a lobbyist with the Commission of Ethics.

The legislative session began Tuesday, January 9.

As the legislative session begins this week, South Carolina legislators are proposing several reforms to increase transparency.

An ongoing corruption probe has entered its fifth year, and six current or former lawmakers have been indicted thus far.

Rep. Gary Clary filed a bill that would require lawmakers to disclose any money they or their family members receive as part of an arrangement with an organization that lobbies state lawmakers.

Sens. William Timmons and Mike Fanning are sponsoring legislation that would grant the ethics commission direct access to campaign bank accounts, rather than lawmakers submitting reports on their political contributions and expenditures.

The session began on Tuesday, January 9.

Gov. John Kasich announced the special primary election for Ohio’s 12^th Congressional District will be held on May 8, and the special general election will be held on August 7.

The seat is being vacated by Rep. Pat Tiberi, who is resigning in order to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable.

The district is located north of Columbus.

The North Carolina General Assembly will convene for a special session on January 10 to address several topics, including judicial reform.

Lawmakers may consider eliminating judicial elections and instead institute an appointment process for selecting judges.

The Arizona Corporation Commission released a code of ethics draft that would ban lobbyists from buying gifts or food for commissioners, as well as require lobbyist registration with the state.

The draft can be amended before the Corporation Commission adopts the code of ethics, which is expected by March.

Legislative leaders successfully petitioned lawmakers to convene a special session scheduled for Friday, January 4, 2018.

Gov. Dannel Malloy had been pressuring legislators to convene a special session for a month to rebalance the budget they passed in October.

Legislative leaders said they will address the budget shortfall but first want to reverse cuts to the Medicare Savings Program.

Spokane, Washington Mayor David Condon announced he is vetoing a campaign finance law passed by City Council on December 18.

The Mayor issued a statement expressing concerns the law would not stand up to constitutional challenges, leaving the city vulnerable to expensive litigation.

Moreover, he argued campaign finance reform is better managed at the state level through the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission to avoid redundant oversight.

City Council could override the veto with five votes.

On December 29, South Dakota Secretary of State Shantel Krebs certified the South Dakota Voter Protection and Anti-Corruption Amendment as Constitutional Amendment W for the November 2018 ballot.

If passed, Constitutional Amendment W would create an independent ethics commission, would decrease limits on campaign donations, would bar gifts from lobbyists to many public officials, and would prevent the Legislature from altering or rejecting laws approved by ballot question without returning to the ballot.

More than 51 percent of voters supported a similar initiative in November 2016, but lawmakers repealed it in early 2017, citing constitutional concerns.

California Assemblyman Sebastian Ridley-Thomas resigned the California’s 54^th State Assembly District seat, effective December 31, due to health issues.

A special election will be held to fill the seat. No date has been set.

Ridley-Thomas is the third assemblyman to resign in the last month. His resignation leaves Democrats with 52 of the Assembly’s 80 members, which is two votes short of what once had been a two-thirds supermajority.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards told state lawmakers this week he intends to call a special session of the Legislature in mid-February to address the state’s budget crisis.

Gov. Edwards set a January 19 deadline for a tax deal to be reached to help balance the budget, and will not call the special session if he does not think the issues will be resolved.

Temporary state sales taxes totaling $1 billion expire next July, and Gov. Edwards hopes a package of sales and income tax proposals can offset the impending deficit.

Tax bills cannot be considered during Louisiana’s regular sessions but require the Governor to call a special session for consideration.

If the session is called in February, it will be the sixth special session since Gov. Edwards took office in 2016.