The Legislature adjourned sine die late Friday, May 19, 2017.

Bills to block removal of Confederate monuments and allow certified midwives to deliver babies in the home both passed.

Lawmakers failed to pass the prison bill and Gov. Kay Ivey is expected to revisit the issue in a special session.

On May 9, 2017, Michigan Rep. John Kivela took his own life. Gov. Rick Snyder has called a special election to fill the vacancy for the 109^th District.

The special primary election will be held on August 8, 2017, with the special general election being held on November 7, 2017.

The winner of the of the special election will serve the remainder of Kivela’s two-year term.

The Vermont Legislature adjourned the 2017 regular session today, May 19, 2017. Lawmakers delayed adjournment by more than a week as they continued negotiations on the state budget.

The budget includes a health insurance savings program for teachers, as demanded by Gov. Phil Scott in the eleventh hour of the session. With little time to create the proposal, the final version passed by both houses is expected to meet the governor’s veto stamp and the specter of a special session looms.

Also passed by both houses, and awaiting the governor’s action, is a bill to establish a state ethics commission and a state code of ethics.

Gov. Terry Branstad has called a special election to fill the state House seat left vacant by the passing of state Rep. Greg Forristall.

The special election will be held Tuesday, June 27, 2017.

The winner of the special election will complete the remainder of Forristall’s term, serving through 2019.

Photo of Rep. Forristall from the Iowa House Republicans site.

The Arizona Legislature adjourned the first regular session of the 53^rd Legislature sine die on May 10, 2017.

Senate Bill 1123 passed, prohibiting any person acting on behalf of a state agency from entering into a contract for lobbying services, and from spending money for any person or entity to lobby on behalf of the agency unless the person is a state employee.

The Legislature is not scheduled to convene again until early 2018.

Jeff Mangan, a former Democratic State Legislator, took over Monday as Montana’s Commissioner of Political Practices. Mangan, the fifth to hold the title in 7 years, was sworn into a six-year term taking over for former Commissioner Jonathon Motl.

Commissioner Mangan commenced work immediately, stating he would begin writing decisions on pending campaign complaints as soon as he was sworn in.

Unlike many Republican lawmakers who characterize Motl’s tenure in the Office as unfairly partisan, Mangan believes the framework established over the last four years left the office in good shape.

Gov. Rick Scott signed an executive order setting the dates for a special election to replace Sen. Frank Artiles. A special primary will be held on July 25, 2017, followed by a special general election on September 26.

Artiles resigned from the District 40 seat last month after calling fellow senators by racist and sexist names while having drinks at the Governors Club.

Senate District 40 is located in southwest Miami-Dade County.

Gov. Phil Bryant has set a special election to fill a vacancy in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

Rep. Mark Formby vacated the District 108 seat to become chairman of the state Workers Compensation Commission.

The election is set for July 25, 2017, with a runoff, if necessary, on August 15.

The qualifying deadline for candidates is June 5.

City Council discovered its lobbying regulations have no enforcement mechanism several months ago, but it has yet to agree on whether violations should be treated as civil or criminal matters.

The discovery began following a controversial vote on a request to pay out $1.2 million to a developer for stormwater culverts on a city owned property. The developer’s lobbyists, a former city staffer and a lawyer at the law firm Burch & Cracchiolo, were not registered according to city records.

While the former city staffer’s attorney accused the city of losing or misfiling his registrations, the city contends the documents produced by Burch & Cracchiolo were falsely created and backdated because they use the law firm’s current letterhead, not the letterhead the firm used in 2015.

When the matter was referred to the city prosecutor, he discovered the current ordinance does not explicitly say failure to file proper lobbying documents is unlawful and does not specify the penalty for failing to register. The city prosecutor previously assumed noncompliance could result in a misdemeanor charge.

Any changes to current lobbying regulations will impact the work of more than 300 registered lobbyists in the city.

Photo of Phoenix City Hall by Kevin Dooley

A measure to increase penalties for violations of Pennsylvania lobbying laws made it out of committee this week.

House Bill 1175 increases the amount a lobbyist may be fined from $2,000 to $4,000, and establishes a graduating scale of daily fines for failure to register or report.

If passed, the per day fine will be $50 for the first 10 days, $100 for days 11 through 20, and $200 for each day thereafter.

The bill now moves to the full House for consideration.

The 2017 session of the 110^th Tennessee General Assembly adjourned on Wednesday, May 10.

Hesitant to make a last-minute decision on such a significant matter, lawmakers postponed a bill to increase campaign contribution limits for legislators. Legislation did pass requiring lawmakers to report contributions or funding from private sources for trips and other items.

The General Assembly will reconvene at noon on Tuesday, January 9, 2018.

The first regular session of the 71^st Colorado General Assembly adjourned Wednesday, May 10.

Prior to adjournment, lawmakers passed an omnibus spending bill to save Colorado hospitals millions of dollars and reduce Medicaid spending while increasing funding for highway projects and offering a personal property tax credit to businesses. Due to partisan disagreement, however, legislators failed to reauthorize the Colorado Energy Office, effectively dismantling the agency July 1.

The second regular session will convene on January 10, 2018.

After last year’s budget bill temporarily increased the executive agency lobbyist registration fee, lawmakers have made the change permanent.

House Bill 80 of the 2016 legislative session increased the fee to $500, effective July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2018, despite the state statute only mandating a fee of $125.

House Bill 387, signed during this year’s legislative session, amends the statute to match the budget bill’s increase. This change is effective July 1, 2017.

Lawmakers passed two measures dealing with ethics and transparency during the regular legislative session that wrapped up in April.

House Bill 2319 will become effective July 5, requiring candidate committees for members of the Legislature to make additional disclosures of contributions and fundraising events while the Legislature is in session.

House Bill 2001 will become law July 7, requiring companies contracting with state agencies on contracts over $100,000 to make disclosures listing interested parties to the contract.

Bills that were not approved during the legislative session do not carry over.