Gov. Terry Branstad has scheduled a special election for Iowa Senate District 45 on December 27, 2016.

The special election will fill the vacancy created by the passing of Sen. Joe Seng.

Branstad wanted the special election to be held on the same day as the general election, but the county auditor declined the request because adding the special election would cause undue delay in delivering absentee ballots.

The first reports under the Fair Political Practices Commission’s new amended reporting requirements for “other payments to influence legislative or administrative action” are due October 31.

The third quarter report covers the period of July 1 to September 30, 2016.

Lobbyist employers and persons spending $5,000 or more to influence legislative or administrative action will need to itemize “other payments to influence legislative or administrative action” using the new Form 640.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board has proposed several rule changes.

Dependent on any amendment to the proposed rules, the board aims at reducing coordination between campaigns and independent expenditure groups by adding two new factors to determine coordination between the two groups. Another proposed rule codifies an advisory opinion stating once an individual has been compensated for a service, he or she may no longer be considered a volunteer for the previously compensated service.

The entire notice of proposed rules can be found at http://www.nyccfb.info/law/rules/proposed-rules. As the public comment period is over, the board will consider feedback and likely adopt the final rules in October. The final rules are required to be published by the city clerk and would become effective 30 days from publication.

Photo of the New York City skyline by AngMoKio on Wikimedia Commons.

The New York City Campaign Finance Board has launched a new online tool to track individual contributions to participating 2017 candidates.

The visualization of individual contributions is searchable by office, candidates, geography, and filing period.

The interactive map may be found at http://maps.nyccfb.info/.

St. Louis aldermen advanced Board Bill 53 out of committee on Tuesday, September 20.

The bill would limit contributions to municipal candidates to $10,000 per city election cycle. Such a limit is nearly four times the proposed state candidate contribution limit currently slated for the November ballot.

A final vote on the municipal measure is expected as early as October. The board bill, if passed, would take effect April 6, 2017.

Photo of the Gateway Arch in St. Louis by Daniel Schwen in Wikimedia Commons.

With the court battle over for the time being, a ballot issue affecting campaign finance and ethics laws in Miami-Dade County will not appear on the ballot this November.

Earlier this month, the county appealed a circuit court’s order requiring the measure be placed on the ballot. The 3rd District Court of Appeal reversed the lower court this week, stating the County Commission acted within its authority to block the measure after determining it was not sufficient.

The appeals court left open the possibility of a challenge of the commission’s conclusion. An Accountable Miami-Dade, however, issued a statement following the ruling vowing to continue the fight in a future election.

West Virginia’s special session adjourned sine die on September 20, 2016.

Lawmakers approved a bill allocating $85 million for flood relief and Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed the bill yesterday.

Flood recovery is estimated to cost $339 million, with Federal Emergency Management Agency covering the majority of those costs.

With the Missouri Supreme Court denying an appeal of two lower court rulings, a constitutional amendment reinstating campaign contribution limits will appear on the November ballot. State contribution limits, originally approved by voters in 1994, were repealed by the General Assembly in 2008.

If passed, the 2016 ballot measure would ban direct corporate and labor union contributions and limit individual and committee contributions to statewide candidates to $2,600 per election. Contributions to political parties would be capped at $25,000 per election.

State Sen. Joe Seng lost his battle with brain cancer on September 16, 2016.

Seng was elected to represent District 45 for the fourth time in 2014.

As Seng’s seat was not up for election this year, a special election will need to be called to fill his remaining term.

Today, the Texas Ethics Commission will ask the Legislative Budget Board for an increase in appropriations to fund possible future litigation, according to the San Antonio Express News.

The Ethics Commission is unsure if Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office will defend the agency in future litigation, according to the commission’s appropriations request. In April, the attorney general’s office refused to provide legal representation for the commission in a lawsuit challenging a law prohibiting the use of audio and video recordings from the House and Senate floors being used in political advertising, according to the News.

In the request, the commission states, “The Commission does not know whether future requests for representation will be declined by the Office of the Attorney General and wants to be financially prepared to retain outside counsel to defend the constitutionality of laws passed by the legislature.”

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin called a special legislative session that began September 18, 2016.

The session is expected to run through September 20 and is limited in scope to the issue of authorizing funds to cover flood recovery costs.

This is West Virginia’s second special session held in 2016.

The Hawaii Senate convened a third special session last week to confirm two judicial appointments.

The Senate confirmed one judicial appointment for the District Family Court of the Third Circuit and another for the District Court of the Fifth Circuit.

The two-day special session began Tuesday and adjourned Wednesday, September 14.

Cleveland City Council approved a proposal this week to put a minimum wage increase before the voters in a 2017 special election.

If passed by the voters, the proposal would increase the city minimum wage to $12 per hour in January 2018 and increase the wage $1 annually thereafter for three additional years.

The issue will appear on the ballot on May 2, 2017.

Photo of the Cleveland skyline by Eric Drost in Wikimedia Commons.

The Missouri General Assembly held its annual veto session on Wednesday, September 14. Lawmakers were successful in overriding some of Gov. Jay Nixon’s vetoes, including the vetoes of two highly controversial bills.

One bill abolishes a state law requiring permits, training, and background checks for those seeking to carry concealed weapons. The other requires voters to show a photo identification before casting a ballot. The voter ID law will take effect in 2017 only if voters pass a state constitutional amendment in support of it.

Photo of the Missouri State Capitol by Nickbigd on Wikimedia Commons.