Louisiana lawmakers adjourned the 2022 regular session sine die on the evening of June 6.

During the session, legislators balanced the budget as well as spending related to education, healthcare, and critical infrastructure.

Trigger language to Louisiana law will end abortion in the state if the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade.

Legislation was also drafted to lower the cost of insulin, help hurricane victims deal with their insurance companies and landlords, reform the criminal justice system, and help rural communities and small businesses.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting dates.

New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for U.S. Congressional Districts 19 and 23 to be held on August 23.

The District 19 seat became vacant when Rep. Antonio Delgado resigned to serve as lieutenant governor, and the District 23 seat became vacant when Rep. Tom Reed resigned following allegations of sexual misconduct.

The winners of the special elections will serve the remainder of the two-year terms set to expire at the end of this year.

The New York General Assembly adjourned sine die on Saturday, June 4.

Lawmakers passed Assembly Bill 09006 replacing the Joint Commission on Public Ethics with a new Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government effective July 8.

The Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government will enforce the state’s ethics and lobbying law, but the change will not affect existing lobbying reporting obligations.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker signed Amendment to House Bill 716, requiring judicial candidate committees to report all persons who have contributed in excess of $500 to the committee if received from any committee, association or group not required to disclose its contributors.

Any political committee that receives such a contribution and fails to report this information must forward the contribution amount immediately to the State Treasurer.

The bill also prohibits self-funding political committees and independent expenditure committees established to support or oppose a state judicial candidate from accepting contributions from any single person, other than the candidate or the candidate’s immediate family, in a cumulative amount exceeding $500,000 in any election cycle.

The bill is effective immediately and applies to judicial elections this year.

In a unanimous ruling, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled the bill giving the General Assembly the ability to call itself into special sessions was unconstitutional.

House Enrolled Act 1123 was passed with a veto override in 2021, and Gov. Eric Holcomb filed a lawsuit claiming the new law was unconstitutional because it impermissibly infringed upon his constitutional authority.

The ruling states that under the constitution, only the governor has the power to call a special session and only a constitutional amendment can give that power to lawmakers.

New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu signed Senate Bill 348 codifying the attorney general’s interpretation of state campaign finance limits.

Contribution limits apply to each of the three phases of the election cycle: the exploratory phase, the primary election, and the general election.

Individuals and corporations are permitted to contribute up to $5,000 per election phase to candidates and candidate committees and up to $10,000 per election phase to non-candidate political committees and political parties.

Under the new campaign finance limits, non-candidate political committees and political parties will be able to contribute an unlimited amount to other non-candidate political committees and political parties.

Senate Bill 348 will take effect on January 1, 2023.

Ohio State Sen. Sandra Williams announced her resignation this week to take a position in the public sector two months before the end of her term.

Along with resigning from the 21^st Senate District seat, Williams has also withdrawn her name as a candidate for Ohio’s 18^th House District.

The resignation will go into effect on Monday, June 6, and will not trigger a special election in the state.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned its regular session on May 27 without referring any measures to the 2022 ballot for voters to consider.

During the session, lawmakers considered referring constitutional amendments and state statutes to the ballot. Fifteen constitutional amendments and one state statute had passed in the chamber of origin but did not receive final approval in the opposite chamber before adjournment.

Proposed constitutional amendments must be referred to the ballot and receive voter approval to be enacted. To put a proposed constitutional amendment on a ballot, a simple majority vote of all members in both the Senate and House is required.

Legislators will return in June for a special veto session to address eliminating the state’s 4.5% grocery tax and reducing the personal income tax.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill requiring certain non-profits to report expenditures of more than $5,000 on communications with the image or name of candidates within 60 days before an election.

Senate Bill 1005 provides exceptions such as communications to members, lobbying during a special session, and communications involving Facebook followers.

This bill also requires political candidates to provide a report of all expenditures over $100 with a cap being set on non-itemized expenses at $2,000 per statement period.

The bill is effective immediately upon the governor’s signature.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed House Bills 7001 and 7003 to prohibit lobbying by a public officer and a former justice or judge during public service and for a six-year period after leaving public office.

The bills were passed to implement Amendment 12, a 2018 constitutional amendment.

Both bills will take effect December 31, 2022.

Florida state legislators concluded a five-day special session after passing two bills addressing insurance rates.

The first bill helps insurers with their risk portfolio by creating reinsurance to assist policyholders.

The second requires condominiums to have thorough inspections and includes an entire section about roofing systems.

Legislatures felt the pressure of addressing these issues as soon as possible because of the continuous increase in insurance rates and because hurricane season is expected to begin on June 1.

The 92nd session of the Minnesota Legislature adjourned sine die on May 23 without passing most of the tax and spending bills.

A special session is expected to be called by the governor in hopes of reaching an agreement on several funding bills that also contain key policy provisions.

The two-year biennial budget was passed last year, funding state operations until June 30, 2023, so there is no risk of a government shutdown.

The Tennessee Legislature passed Senate Bill 884 and delivered it to Gov. Bill Lee this past week on May 18.

Present law imposes an annual privilege tax of $400 on registered lobbyists with the state.

As introduced, the bill eliminated the tax for attorneys, physicians, investment advisors, and lobbyists.

However, as amended and passed, the bill only removes the annual tax for physicians.

The bill becomes effective immediately if signed by the governor or left unsigned for more than 10 days.

The regular session of the 89th Iowa General Assembly adjourned sine die on May 25, over a month past their target end date of April 19.

During the session, lawmakers passed House File 2526, prohibiting private money from being used to help run elections.

The bill was introduced following Republican opposition to large donations in the 2020 elections by Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s foundation.