On June 23, the special session of the Louisiana Legislature adjourned. The governor wanted $600 million to address the state’s budget shortfall for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, but lawmakers would only approve legislation providing $263 million. The special session began the day the regular session concluded.

Boulder City Council has adopted two new ordinances creating a new municipal election code and updating campaign finance rules.

The city will no longer be dependent on the state election code, and city staff will no longer need to continually update the code for local elections based on state legislative changes. Other cities, including, but not limited to, Denver, Colorado Springs, and Fort Collins, have adopted similar local codes.

The changes also clarify campaign finance disclosure requirements; campaigning done without cost, such as the use of social media, need not be disclosed. Critics believe the new provisions were rushed and encourage a lack of transparency.

A special session could be looming in Mississippi as the state continues to deal with budget woes.

Gov. Phil Bryant is currently considering calling lawmakers back into session to balance the budget. This may require the use of back-up funds and could cause a protracted fight to rework the current budget.

This would be Bryant’s sixth special session since taking office.

Photo of Gov. Phil Bryant by U.S. Department of Agriculture on Wikimedia Commons.

Today the Portland City Council is scheduled to reconsider adopting new ethics reform measures to broaden the revolving door prohibition to two years and increase the penalties associated with repeated ethics violations.

The proposal would also close a loophole in registration requirements, requiring lobbying entities that spend more than $1,000 a quarter on lobbying activities to register.

The proposed ordinance is a compromise that is less restrictive than a similar ordinance that was introduced in April 2016.

In an end-of-session bipartisan push, the Legislature and governor have come to agreement on ethics reform measures.

Their five-point plan includes the following:

• With more disclosure measures in place, super PACs are now able to give and receive unlimited contributions if they do not coordinate with a candidate;
• Public officers convicted of corruption may face revocation or reduction of their pensions;
• First-time political consultants will be required to disclose when they simultaneously represent political officeholders and private sector clients with government business;
• The reporting thresholds for organizations who lobby on their own behalf has been lowered from $50,000 to $15,000 while individual limits have been lowered from $5,000 to $2,500;
• Contributions over $2,500 to organizations engaged in lobbying must now also be reported to JCOPE; and
• 501(c)(4) organizations will now be required to disclose funding if they engage in political activity and receive any financial support and in-kind donations from 501(c)(3) organizations.

Other new features from the plan include imposition of fines up to $10,000 or the amount of promised contingency fees for anyone violating the state’s prohibition on contingency fee lobbying, a delineation excluding all communication with journalists from the definition of lobbying, and more due process rights for individuals being investigated by the Joint Commission of Public Ethics (JCOPE), including the right to a hearing.

The Assembly adjourned early on Saturday, June 18, two days later than scheduled.

In light of corruption convictions for former Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, ethics reform was a primary focus of this term. The Legislature came to agreement on a five-point reform plan, including Assembly Bill 10739, which allows courts to reduce or revoke pensions for lawmakers convicted of felony-level corruption charges related to their responsibilities as public officials.

The bill is a constitutional amendment, so lawmakers will have to hold another vote at the beginning of the next regular session before voters will decide whether or not to accept the measure.

On June 19, the Alaska Legislature adjourned its fourth special session.

The Legislature failed to pass revenue measures the special session was called to address. Gov. Bill Walker immediately issued a proclamation calling another special session to convene on July 11.

The Cuyahoga County Council recently updated the county’s code of ethics to clarify the ethical rights, responsibilities, and prohibitions applicable to elected officials, employees, board members, contractors, and lobbyists.

New provisions include, but are not limited to, a new lobbyist registration threshold, a new lobbyist reporting requirement, updated gift rules with a presumption of influence standard, and a lower monetary contract threshold for contractor registration and ethics training.

A summary of the changes to the ethics laws and a copy of the ordinance are available for review on the county inspector general’s website. The ordinance became effective May 27.

Gov. Robert Bentley called a special election to fill the vacant seat in the House of Representatives for District 79.

The vacancy is a result of former House Speaker Mike Hubbard’s conviction on 12 felony ethics charges, which stripped Hubbard of his position as a member of the Legislature.

The special primary is set for September 13, 2016, and the special general election will take place on November 29, 2016.

The City Council will begin voting next week on existing city-funded demolition contracts worth over $25,000.

Mayor Mike Duggan’s administration discovered the existing contracts have never sought required City Council approval during a review of purchasing ordinances. Going forward, officials have committed to a council vote on all contracts valued over $25,000, as required by law.

The city is still investigating the number of contracts performed without proper council approval since Duggan revamped the demolition program in 2014.

A veto session is scheduled to convene next week; however, lawmakers in the Senate have already decided not to challenge Gov. Dannel Malloy’s line-item veto cutting more than $20 million in municipal aid.

Democratic leadership in the House will instead hold a closed-door caucus during the June 20 session. An override of the veto needed to start in the Senate because the budget bill originated there.

Most lawmakers are unhappy with the cuts, but Democrats, who control both houses, have chosen not to fight this particular battle with the governor.

The Legislature was scheduled to adjourn Thursday, but will instead return Friday in an effort to reach final agreement on a few key bills.

Assembly Bill 10739 has been sent to the Senate for review. If it is successful there, the bill would allow courts to revoke or reduce lawmakers’ pensions and retirement rights if they are convicted of felony-level corruption offenses.

Although a slew of other ethics reform bills was introduced during this session, no others are currently expected to pass.

A bipartisan majority of lawmakers is calling for an amendment to the U.S. Constitution overturning the Supreme Court’s 2010 decision in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission.

In the Citizens United decision, the Court ruled corporations and unions should be considered individuals for purposes of political contributions; therefore, restricting their donations to candidates is a violation of their First Amendment right to free speech.

New York is now one of 16 states—and the first with a Republican-controlled chamber—supporting an amendment in response to the decision.

A special legislative session may be necessary to solve North Dakota’s budget issues.

The Office of Management and Budget says revenue for the state has fallen behind original projections. If the shortfall exceeds $75 million according to the revenue forecast due out in mid-July, a special session could be called.