On February 18, Gov. Pat McCrory called a special session of the General Assembly, for the purpose of drawing new congressional district maps. The new maps are needed because two congressional districts have been declared unconstitutional by the United States District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina just ahead of the upcoming primary election.

The regular session of the General Assembly is not scheduled to meet until April 25.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikimedia Commons.

The Legislative Ethics Commission has fined former Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak $100,000 after the Joint Commission on Public Ethics formally accused him of violating Public Officers Law. Gabryszak’s fine is made up of $30,000 for using his office resources, including phones, computers, and printers to aid his political campaigns, and $70,000 for sexually harassing seven female staff members while in office.

Gabryszak resigned in January 2014. The $100,000 fine is the second largest civil fine ever handed out by the New York Legislative Ethics Commission.

Gov. Hogan has established a commission to help update the state’s approach to procurement. Hogan said a new system was needed as the current approach is a patchwork of laws and processes resulting in unreliability and actually discourages participation to do business with the state.

The commission is comprised of 19 individuals with various backgrounds, including information technology, construction, engineering, law, and representatives from various state agencies.

The commission will be charged with standardizing interpretation of contracting codes, using new technology to make the procurement process more efficient, and simplifying the existing template Maryland uses for requesting proposals.

Lobbying

Florida: “Lobbying firms pull in cash as year ends” by Jim Saunders in the Tallahassee Democrat

Hawaii: “Lobbying Law Proposed For Kauai” by Chad Blair in the Honolulu Civil Beat

Idaho: “Bill would make university, state agency lobbyists report their spending” by Betsy Russell in the Spokesman Review

New Hampshire: “Political Wrangling Over ‘People’s Pledge’ in New Hampshire” by Simone Pathé in Roll Call

New Mexico: “Campaign finance fix bill triggered by KOB investigation 1 step away from clearing legislature” by Ryan Luby in KOB 4

Ethics

New Mexico: “Ethics commission proposal faces scrutiny in Senate panel” by Dan Boyd in the Albuquerque Journal

Virginia: “Senators vote to undo parts of ethics reform law” by Jim Nolan in the Richmond Times-Dispatch

Elections

“DCCC Names First 16 Candidates to ‘Red to Blue’ Program” by Simone Pathé in Roll Call

Florida: “With Safe Districts Gone, Two Florida Lawmakers Taking Their Time on 2016 Decision” by Eli Yokley in Roll Call

Ohio: “Bill would ban switching political parties in Ohio primary elections” by Robert Higgs in the Plain Dealer

Procurement

Texas: “Some contractors say new Texas disclosure law confusing” by The Associated Press in KXAN

Legislative Issues

Alaska: “Longtime Alaska Lawmaker Max Gruenberg Dies” by Nathaniel Herz in Governing

Arizona: “Arizona lawmakers seek ability to more easily overturn ballot measures” by Howard Fischer in the Daily Courier

Columbus City Council President Zach Klein will hold a public hearing on proposed ethics legislation on Wednesday, February 17, 2016. The proposed changes enhance transparency and accountability for lobbyists, strengthen ethics disclosure laws, and amend campaign finance reporting requirements.

Public testimony will be accepted. Comments will be limited to three minutes. Those wishing to comment must fill out a speaker slip at Columbus City Hall on the day of the hearing.

A bill to increase campaign contribution limits hit a roadblock this week in the West Virginia Senate after Democrats successfully added amendments requiring greater disclosure. The Republican-inspired measure, Senate Bill 408, would increase the limit on contributions to state office candidates from $1,000 to $2,700 per election. Democrats, however, were willing to accept the increase only if greater disclosure by dark money groups was also part of the changes.

The effective date of the bill was also amended by the Democrats to go into effect in 2017, whereas the original would make the changes effective on May 11, 2016, the day after the primary election.

With these two amendments, the Republican leadership decided not to bring the bill up for a vote. Judiciary Committee Chairman Charles Trump said he will have to discuss the changes with other senators before deciding whether or not to move forward with the legislation.

Cleveland City Council voted Monday, February 8, to increase campaign contribution limits for mayoral and council candidates.

After much debate, the Finance Committee agreed on a $5,000 annual limit from individuals and a $7,500 annual limit from political action committees giving to mayoral candidates. Individual contributions to council candidates were capped at $1,500 annually, with PAC contributions limited to $3,000.

The ordinance passed with three council members voting against it.

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

The state House of Representatives have voted in favor of a house joint resolution to amend the state constitution to create an independent state ethics commission. The commission would be in charge of overseeing the conduct of executive and legislative state officers, employees in the executive and legislative branches, government contractors, and lobbyists.

The resolution now moves to the Senate for approval. If the resolution passes, it will be placed on the November 8 ballot.

On February 3, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a special election will be held on May 7 for Texas House District 120. The winner will serve the remainder of the term for the seat left vacant by Ruth Jones McClendon, who resigned on January 31.

A special election will also be held on the same date for House District 139 to serve the unexpired term left vacant by Sylvester Turner, who became the mayor of Houston on January 2.

The special elections join the state’s May uniform election date.

Photo of Ruth Jones McClendon courtesy of the Texas House of Representatives website.

The State Assembly has passed a campaign finance bill requiring many political advertisements to prominently display or announce the names of the ad sponsor’s top donors of $50,000 or more. Assembly Bill 700 requires the true source of funds to be disclosed, making efforts to hide contributions using middleman organizations or earmarked funds impermissible.

The bill is currently under consideration in the Senate.

Photo of the California State Assembly chamber by David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

On February 5, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards called a special session of the Legislature to meet on February 14. The purpose of the session is to focus on fiscal issues concerning the state, including a call for reductions in the state’s ordinary operating expenses, new legislation affecting rates and brackets for state income tax, new legislation with regard to state contracts, and new legislation addressing the state sales tax on telecommunications services. Additionally, the governor is asking for a state constitutional amendment relating to deductible items in computing state income tax. In all, the session will address 36 items.

The regular session of the Legislature is not scheduled to meet until March 14. The governor’s proclamation specifies the special session is to extend no later than March 9.

Photo of the Louisiana State Capitol by Bluepoint951 on Wikimedia Commons.

A federal judge has put a temporary stop on a controversial part of a recently passed campaign finance bill. Senate Bill 571, which included significant changes in the state’s election law, contained a provision prohibiting the use of public resources by public entities such as schools and libraries in the 60 days before an election.

The provision was found to be unconstitutionally vague, as it did not clarify what was permissible. While several bills to fix the provision have subsequently been introduced, it is likely none of them will be passed by the upcoming March 8 election.

In an effort to repair and modernize Minnesota’s campaign finance system, House Democrats have announced their intention to introduce a state constitutional amendment requiring disclosure of all election-related spending. The bill would require disclosure for contributions and expenditures made for communications clearly identifying a candidate, as well as the use of words or phrases of express advocacy.

Mailings, ads, or anything a reasonable person would interpret to be advocating for or against a candidate will also be required in the disclosure.

Similar bills have been previously introduced, but have defeated. If the proposal is passed it will then be added to the upcoming November ballot for voter approval.

Photo of the Minnesota Capitol Building by Jonathunder on Wikimedia Commons.

A special election will be held May 17 for South Carolina State Senate District 4. If necessary, a primary election will take place on March 22, and a primary runoff will take place on April 5.

The seat was left vacant following the death of William O’Dell on January 7, 2016.