California state Assemblyman Marc Levine has proposed a bill to allow “ballot selfies.” Under current state law, such pictures are illegal.

Levine believes allowing voters to post pictures of their ballots on social media will boost voter turnout. California voter turnout hit a record low in 2014 and many state lawmakers are attempting to bolster it with legislation this session.

Levine’s bill is being considered in committee.

Photo of Assemblyman Marc Levine courtesy of the California State Assembly on Wikimedia Commons.

The city Ethics Board released new contribution limits for city candidates on January 11.

Candidates for city offices may accept up to $3,000 in a calendar year from an individual contributor, an increase from the previous limit of $2,900. Groups and businesses may contribute up to $11,900 to a candidate per year, an increase of $400.

Contribution limits are adjusted every four years based on the consumer price index.

South Carolina Sen. Billy O’Dell died of a heart attack at the age of 77. The fiscally liberal Republican was due to file for reelection in March 2016 for an eighth term in office.

Pending senate notification, the South Carolina Election Commission will set a special election date. There is expected to be a March 22 primary, followed by an April 5 runoff, if necessary, and a May 17 general election. The special election would usually be held on May 10 but state offices will be closed in celebration of Confederate Memorial Day.

Photo of Sen. Billy O’Dell courtesy of the South Carolina Senate website.

On January 8, the Arizona Secretary of State’s office proposed changes to the state’s campaign finance law in order to make it simpler and easier to understand. Changes include revisions of the definitions of committee and election cycle and elimination of the “paid for” disclosures in campaign messages on social media, according to The Arizona Republic.

“We are keeping almost every existing policy, but we have rewritten it in a simpler manner. We have reorganized it to the place where you would expect to find it. And we have created the statutes like the way you would read a book,” said Director of Election Services Eric Spencer, according to KJZZ.org. The office has drafted legislation to be considered by the Legislature this year.

Gov. Jerry Brown has called a special election for April 5, 2016, to fill a vacancy in the 31st District. Rep. Henry Perea vacated his seat in December of 2015.

Perea’s term was expiring in December 2016. Therefore, the candidate elected in the special election will serve the remainder of Perea’s term while running for re-election in the regularly scheduled general election on November 8, 2016.

Following questions about campaign spending practices and the conviction of former Secretary of State Diana Duran for misuse of campaign contributions, a new unit is being created to better enforce and explain the state’s campaign finance laws to legislators and other candidates. Current Secretary of State Brad Winter is creating the Education, Ethics, and Compliance Unit to more closely monitor campaign spending and to answer any questions legislators might have.

Previously, only two staffers covered the campaign filings of over 100 legislators, candidates, and other state and county officials. Additional staffers are being brought in, with each monitoring around 20 legislators.

Winter also released a new lobbyist training guide, and offered webinars to be held prior to the Legislature’s next session, which begins on January 19.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh has announced he wants a lobbying ordinance for the city and he wants it modeled on the state’s lobbying law.

According to the Boston Globe, Walsh will propose regulations requiring lobbyists to disclose their clients, their compensation, and their activities involving development, city contracts, and permits. His proposal was first outlined to Globe columnist Yvonne Abraham. Walsh will propose his lobbying regulation as a home rule petition, which must eventually be approved by the state Legislature.

Secretary of State William Galvin said he would prefer a statewide law requiring lobbyists to disclose their activities in every municipality, according to the Globe.

On January 8, new Montana campaign finance rules requiring increased disclosure from candidates and committees were officially published and became effective. Political Practices Commissioner Jonathan Motl had formally filed the new administrative rules on November 24 with the secretary of state. However, Motl waited to publish and make the rules effective until a poll was taken of the state’s lawmakers to determine whether they found the rules consistent with campaign finance legislation they passed last year. After lawmakers approved of the rule changes late last year, the rules were then finalized for publication. The official notice of the adoption of the rules include both changes to the original proposed rules, made in August of last year, and 190 public comments the commissioner’s office studied and considered in making final adjustments to those  proposals.

Other changes in the new rules include electronic filing of reports to be made immediately available to the public online. “If all we have left after Citizens United is transparency, reporting and disclosure, then I think society’s got an obligation to make that transparency real. These regulations take us significantly down that path,” said Motl, according to the Washington Times.

On January 9, a $10 increase in contribution limits for certain candidates becomes effective in the state of Montana.

Pursuant to state statute, the Office of the Commissioner of Political Practices, adjusting contribution limitations to reflect the consumer price index, has raised the contribution limit for candidates for the governor and lieutenant governor from $650 to $660. Candidates for statewide office may now accept $330, up from $320. The contribution limit of $170 remains the same for all other public offices, including state Senate and state House. Montana’s contribution limits continue to be contested in the court challenge of Lair v. Bullock, which argues the state’s political contribution limits are unconstitutionally low.

This week, Governor Snyder signed Senate Bill 571, a bill that affects what public officials and organizations can and cannot do within 60 days of an election. The bill prohibits local officials from publicly discussing ballot proposals or millage issues in the 60 days leading up to an election.

Despite approving the bill, Snyder urged the Legislature to pass further legislation clarifying some key provisions of the bill that some say infringe on protected free political speech. The 53 page bill was originally much shorter until last minute amendments were passed with no public hearings. Senate Bill 571 also eliminates the need for February quarterly reports for political action committees.

The City and Borough of Juneau Assembly voted to call for a special election to elect a mayor for the remainder of the current term. Deputy Mayor Mary Becker stepped in to the role in November following the passing of Mayor Greg Fisk. The special election will be held Tuesday, March 15. Because Becker was serving as Assemblymember for District 1 when she became mayor, there is now a vacant seat on the Assembly.

Interested applicants for the seat will be interviewed during a Special Assembly meeting on Monday, January 11. On Tuesday, January 12, the Assembly will hold a Special Assembly Meeting with the Juneau Legislative Delegation and will conduct a public hearing followed by Assembly action regarding appointment to the vacant District 1 seat.

South Dakota Rep. Jim Bolin believes ballot initiatives should require support from voters across the state prior to being added to a ballot. He plans to introduce a bill limiting the number of signatures from the state’s three largest counties by population to no more than 50 percent of the signatures obtained. According to U.S. Census data, those three counties account for nearly 40 percent of the state’s population.

Bolin claims the signatures gathered in the three counties do not always represent the interest of the entire state. Ballot measure sponsors, however, do not want to restrict a voter’s right to be considered qualified based on his or her county of residence.

State Rep. Bart Korman filed a bill on Wednesday to add sex between lawmakers and lobbyists to the gifts required to be reported on ethics forms. The bill defines a reportable sexual gift as “sexual relations between a registered lobbyist and a member of the general assembly or his or her staff.” It excludes sex in a marriage or in a relationship in existence prior to either party’s lobbyist registration or legislative employment.

State Rep. Caleb Rowden has proposed a gift ban barring lobbyists from giving any tangible or intangible service or thing of value to an elected official or to the official’s staff, spouse, or dependent children. Korman says he has no objections to such a gift ban, but stresses there should be no easy ways around it.

While Korman’s bill covers sex as a defined gift, the reporting of sexual relations would not require a dollar valuation.

Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther has proposed three new ordinances providing for an increase in lobbying oversight and gift disclosure, additional campaign finance disclosure, and the hiring of an inspector general. Columbus City Council is expected to hold a public hearing on the proposals in the coming weeks and to vote on them by late February.

With the lobbying proposal, Ginther wants the city to establish a new lobbyist registry to track the activity of lobbyist vendors seeking contracts with the city. Additionally, lobbyists would be required to disclose expenditures made on elected officials and department directors.

Photo of Mayor Ginther by David Paul on Wikimedia Commons.