A special election has been scheduled to be held on February 21 in New Hampshire.

The special election is necessary after the Rochester House race between Republican David Walker and Democrat Rep. Chuck Grassie ended in a tie earlier this year.

Virginia Gov. Youngkin announced a special election to replace the late Del. Ronnie Campbell will take place January 10, 2023.

Del. Campbell passed away this past week after a battle with cancer.

Campbell represented the 24^th District of the Virginia House of Delegates.

His wife, Ellen Campbell has announced that she will run for her late husband’s seat.

As a result of a struggle over who holds a majority in the Pennsylvania state House, lawmakers scheduled special elections on two different dates to fill the same two vacancies.

Democratic leadership scheduled special elections to fill vacancies in House District 34 and 35 for February 7, 2023, while Republican leadership scheduled them for May 16, 2023.

A lawsuit filed by Republican representatives will likely determine when the special elections will be held and which party has the power to schedule them.

Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a special election to replace the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin will take place February 21, 2023.

Rep. McEachin died after he won his bid for reelection.

McEachin represented Virginia’s 4^th Congressional District, which includes the state capital of Richmond.

The Alabama Ethics Commission voted to increase the amount of de minimis items a lobbyist or lobbyist employer may give to public officials.

The new amounts are $32 or less per occasion with an aggregate of $64 or less per calendar year.

Previously the amount was $25 or less per occasion with an aggregate of $50 or less in a calendar year.

The change will only affect the definition of de minimis and has no effect on the exception for meals within the Alabama Code.

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers ordered a special election to be held on April 4, 2023.

The session is being held to fill a vacancy in the Senate District 8 seat created by the retirement of Sen. Alberta Darling.

If a primary election is necessary, it will be held on February 21, 2023.

South Dakota Secretary of State Steve Barnett published the 2023 annual limit for lobbyist gifts to public officials.

The annual cumulative value is adjusted each year based on the change in the consumer price index for urban wage earners and clerical workers in the preceding year.

The change for 2021 was a 7% increase from the current limit of $107.92, making the newly adjusted cumulative gift limit $115.47.

No public official and no member of the immediate family of a public official may accept from any lobbyist or principal any gifts with a cumulative value greater than $115.47 during the 2023 calendar year.

Q: I heard New York City requires registration and reporting for grassroots lobbying? Who is required to register and how do I comply with all the reporting requirements?

A: Yes, if an individual’s compensation or expenditures for grassroots lobbying exceeds $5,000 in the aggregate during a calendar year. Lobbying is considered any attempt to influence city officials, therefore all grassroots campaigns would be considered lobbying. The city law reflects the existing state law requiring registration and reporting for state lobbyists.

Once a grassroots campaign reaches the $5,000 lobbying threshold, bi-monthly periodic reports, an annual report, and fundraising and political consulting reports must be filed. Fundraising and political consulting reports are filed on the same bi-monthly schedule as the periodic reports.

For the bi-monthly periodic reports and the annual report, make sure you keep track of compensation, expenses, subjects lobbied, and names of the person and agencies lobbied. For the fundraising and political consulting reports, you will need to track compensation paid for fundraising and/or political consulting activities, a list of all persons or entities contracted for the purpose of providing fundraising and/or political consulting services, and the total dollar amount raised for each candidate for which such activities were performed.

Don’t forget when it comes to websites, a social media communication constitutes a grassroots lobbying communication when:

1. References otherwise implicate an action covered by the term lobbying or lobbying activities;
2. Takes a clear position on the action question; and
3. Includes a call to action (i.e., solicits or exhorts the public, or a segment of the public, to contact a public official).

When grassroots lobbying through a social media communication is undertaken by an organization, through the organization’s social media account, this activity is reportable lobbying activity by the organization. When grassroots lobbying through a social media communication is undertaken by an individual, through their personal social media account, this activity is not reportable lobbying activity unless such individual is specifically retained by a client for such social media activity. Any expenses incurred to create, promote, place, or otherwise highlight an individual’s personal social media activity are reportable by the party incurring the expenses. A consultant’s activity on a grassroots campaign may be considered reportable lobbying if the consultant controlled the delivery and had input into the content of the message.

City Council passed an ordinance prohibiting the city of Cleveland from doing business with companies found to practice wage theft or commit payroll fraud.

Ordinance 892-2022 requires businesses seeking city contracts or financial assistance to report to the city’s Fair Employment Wage Board any adverse determinations by a government agency finding that they, or a subcontractor committed wage theft or payroll fraud within the last three years.

If a person fails to self-report such a finding against a business, they could be found guilty of a first-degree misdemeanor.

Wage theft is defined as any violation of state or federal law regarding the prompt payment of wages, payment of minimum wage, or prevailing wage rates.

Payroll fraud is defined as the concealment of a business’s true tax liability by not reporting or underreporting applicable wages or by paying employees under-the-table.

The Fair Employment Wage Board will be responsible for maintaining a list of businesses that have been found to commit wage theft or payroll fraud.

Two special elections have been scheduled for January 31, 2023, and February 7, 2023, to fill vacant seats in the Pennsylvania Legislature.

Senate District 27’s seat was vacated by Sen. John Gordner, who resigned on November 30 to become counsel to the interim Senate President Pro Tempore.

The winner of the January 31, 2023, special election will serve the remainder of the term set to expire at the end of 2024.

The House District 32 seat became vacant when Rep. Tony DeLuca won re-election on November 8 after he passed away in October before the election.

The winner of the February 7, 2023, special election will serve the remainder of the term set to expire at the end of 2024.

Milwaukee Common Council President José G. Pérez called a special election to be held on April 4, 2023, to fill the vacant aldermanic seats in districts 1, 5, and 9.

If a primary election is necessary to fill any of these seats, it will be held on February 21, 2023.

Gov. Bill Lee has set upcoming election dates to fill Tennessee House District 86.

The seat was vacated upon the death of Democratic State Rep. Barbara Cooper in late October at the age of 93.

Tennessee allowed her name to remain on the November ballot where she won.

A primary election will be held on January 24, 2023 with the general election being held on March 14, 2023.

Lawmakers will convene for a special session of the Connecticut General Assembly on November 28.

Lawmakers will discuss extending the gas tax holiday and the continued suspension of fares on all public transit buses.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) held its November meeting, approving many changes for 2023.

The FPPC raised the annual gift limit to $590 and clarified the phrase “arrange for the making of a gift.”

The FPPC also expanded and further explained how a lobbyist or lobbying firm “places an official under personal obligation.”

The contribution limits have been adjusted to match increases in the cost of living, raising the limit for Senate or Assembly to $10,900 and $36,400 for governor.

The new limits take effect January 1, 2023.