Gov. Tom Wolf announced a special election for the 18^th U.S. House District will be held on March 13, 2018, in order to fill the remainder of Rep. Tim Murphy’s term.

There is no special primary election, so each party will select a candidate to run in the special election.

Rep. Murphy resigned last week after it was revealed he had an affair with a married woman and urged her to get an abortion.

This week the 9^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated Montana’s voter-approved political contribution limits effective immediately. The limits were ruled unconstitutional in 2016 by a federal district judge in Helena and replaced with contributions limits in place in mid-1990’s.

The 9^th U.S. Circuit Court found the contribution limits in question to be “both justified and adequately tailored to the state’s interest in combating quid pro quo corruption or its appearance.”

The initial lawsuit brought in 2011 claimed the campaign finance laws burdened speech and association. The plaintiffs have already announced their plan to appeal this week’s 2-judge majority decision stating there is no evidence campaign contributions have influenced voting by state lawmakers.

Individual contributions to a gubernatorial candidate have been reduced by about $600 while the limit for what a political action committee can give will now be $660 per election, down from $10,610 per election cycle.

The Austin Financial Services Department is proposing drastic changes to the city’s anti-lobbying and procurement ordinance.

The proposed changes shorten the no contact period during a bid solicitation and allow the purchasing officer to consider mitigating factors when determining if a violation has occurred. The recommendations also abbreviate, clarify, and consolidate what communications and representations are permitted and prohibited during the solicitation process.

Comments and suggestions for additional proposed changes are still being accepted.

This comes after city council voted to suspend the anti-lobbying and procurement ordinance for individuals seeking waste management contracts after they struggled to find and agree upon suitable contractors.

City Council met this week to discuss the proposed changes and postponed taking action until November 9, 2017.

Gov. Jerry Brown has signed four bills into law – three amending the Political Reform Act and one amending post employment restrictions.

Assembly Bill 867 states behested payments are not contributions and recasts the provisions defining the term “contribution.”

Senate Bill 45 prohibits sending mass mailings within the 60 days before an election by or on behalf of a candidate on the ballot.

Senate Bill 226 requires slate mailer organizations to disclose on any mailing whether the organization represents public safety personnel.

Assembly Bill 1620 extends the time frame a member of the Legislature can lobby after resignation from one year after leaving office to one year after the adjournment sine die of the session in which the resignation occurred.

State Sen. Sean Tindell resigned earlier this week to be sworn in as a judge for the Mississippi Court of Appeals.

Gov. Phil Bryant announced a special election on December 19 to fill the vacated District 49 seat.

A runoff election will occur on January 9, 2018, if no candidate receives a majority of the vote.

Gov. Jim Justice announced Tuesday evening legislators had completed their special session and passed six bills.

The special session was called after West Virginia voters overwhelmingly voted in favor of a road bond levy.

Bills passed include increasing civil penalties for contractors who do not hire at least 75 percent of their workforce from West Virginia, allowing the sharing of certain information between the West Virginia Division of Highways and West Virginia Tax Commissioner, and exempting military pensions from the state’s personal income tax.

State Sen. Cliff Hite resigned earlier this week, citing inappropriate behavior with a state employee and health reasons.

In his statement, Sen. Hite apologized for his actions, which he claims did not go beyond asking for hugs and chat that “was not appropriate for a married man.”

A replacement will be appointed by the Senate Republican caucus.

Rep. Pat Tiberi of Ohio announced his intention to resign from the U.S. House of Representatives by January 31, 2018.

In a statement, Tiberi said he has been offered the opportunity to lead the Ohio Business Roundtable.

The Ohio Revised Code states that the governor “shall issue a writ of election directing that a special election be held to fill such vacancy” once the vacancy has become official.

Tiberi was first elected to Congress in November 2000.

Gov. Kay Ivey has scheduled a special election for House District 21. The seat is vacant due to the sudden passing of Rep. Jim Patterson earlier this October.

A special primary election will be held on January 9, 2018, and the special general election will be held on March 27, 2018, provided a runoff is not required.

If a runoff is required, the special runoff election will be held on March 27, 2018, and the special general election will be held on June 12, 2018.

Two additional House seats have been added to the special election calendar in Georgia.

House Districts 26 and 60 will be filled on November 7, 2017, with a runoff, if necessary, on December 5.

Rep. Geoff Duncan resigned his House District 26 seat to run for lieutenant governor while Rep. Keisha Waites, House District 60, resigned to run for Fulton County Commission chair.

Five House and two Senate seats were already on the ballot for November 7.

The Oklahoma Ethics Commission temporarily moved to the Oklahoma Judicial Center, Room E118, at 2100 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Oklahoma City, OK 73105 on Friday, October 13, 2017, and will be at that location through Sunday, October 22nd, 2017.

The Oklahoma State Capitol is undergoing a building-wide electrical outage to transfer power to a new electrical room as a part of an ongoing restoration project, and the Ethics Commission office in the Capitol is closed.

The Commission staff will be available in person at the Judicial Center and by email and phone. This does not affect the Ethics Commission website or online reporting system.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo may call a special session this fall.

Cuomo believes a special session may be needed to address federal cuts to the state’s health care programs and other budgetary issues.

In a letter to lawmakers, Cuomo stated a special session may be needed to appropriate funds for Lake Ontario flood victims.

The San Francisco Ethics Commission has proposed to place strict limits on behested payments.

A behested payment is when a public official asks a person or group to donate to a civic or charitable cause instead of directly to the public official, and the proposal would ban these requests. The penalty for officials could be $5,000 for each violation, but there would be no penalty for the donor.

If this proposal becomes an ordinance, the city’s Board of Supervisors would have to approve it. The commission could also put the changes on a ballot, which would be decided by voters in June of 2018.

On Tuesday, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 267 and Senate Bill 358 into law.

Senate Bill 267 authorizes the Fair Political Practices Commission to have primary responsibility for the impartial, administration, implementation, and enforcement of a local campaign finance reform of the city of Sacramento, effective immediately.

Senate Bill 358 requires the secretary of state’s website to post hyperlinks to the website of any local government agency containing publicly disclosed campaign finance information.