New York Gov. Hochul announced a special election for Assembly District 58 to be held on May 24.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Nick Perry was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the ambassador to Jamaica.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the two-year term set to expire at the end of this year.

Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin was arrested today on a federal bribery conspiracy charge in connection with a scheme to direct fraudulent contributions to one of his prior campaigns.

The scheme was reportedly designed to help Benjamin receive matching funds from New York City’s public campaign financing program during his bid for city comptroller last year.

Benjamin has served as lieutenant governor for less than a year and is currently running for re-election with Gov. Kathy Hochul.

The Mississippi Legislature adjourned sine die on April 5 after over 90 days in session.

This extended session was highlighted by lowered state taxes, redistricting, and the creation of a medical marijuana program.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

The lobbyist end-of-session activity report is due April 15.

Illinois lawmakers adjourned sine die early Saturday morning after passing a bill limiting contributions to judicial self-funding political committees and independent expenditure committees.

Amendment to House Bill 716 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.

Supporters of the bill argue this does not conflict with federal law established in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission because the state’s interest in preserving public confidence in the integrity of its judiciary extends beyond its interest in preventing the appearance of corruption in non-judicial elections.

If Governor Pritzker signs the bill, it will become effective immediately and would apply to judicial elections this year.

The Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission has raised the limit for contributions given to a candidate for mayor, City Council, or city attorney to $600 per election cycle.

This limit only applies to candidates who are not participating in the Democracy Voucher Program.

Contribution limits are adjusted before each election cycle to account for inflation or deflation using the consumer price index.

Utah lawmakers passed a lobbying transparency bill establishing requirements for foreign agents and amending the definition of lobbying.

House Bill 90 defines the term foreign agent and requires a foreign agent to register with the lieutenant governor.

Under the bill, a foreign agent must complete a foreign agent registration form, license application form, and wear an indicating name tag in at least 14-point type.

Additionally, the definition of lobbying includes influencing local action, such as an ordinance or purchasing decision, or education action, such as a nomination or appointment by an official or board.

The bill will become effective May 4.

Voters in St. Louis, Missouri passed Proposition R, amending the city charter to include several new conflicts of interest provisions.

Proposition R prohibits alderpersons from knowingly using their official position to influence others for their own financial benefit; requires alderpersons to declare personal or financial conflicts of interest and abstain from voting when there are conflicts of interest; prohibits alderpersons from accepting employment or contracts that interfere with the discharge of public duties or create conflicts of interest; and requires former alderpersons to wait at least one year before serving as a lobbyist to influence a city government decision.

Proposition R also transfers redistricting from the Board of Alderpersons to a nine-member redistricting commission and changes the name of the Board of Aldermen to the Board of Alderpersons.

The charter changes take effect when the election is certified, which will take two to three weeks.

The Missouri Ethics Commission has four vacant seats out of six, leaving it two people short to decide any issues.

The commission had to delay a decision on a complaint filed against Columbia mayoral candidate Randy Minchew on March 15, citing the lack of commissioners.

Under state law, the commission is required to act within 15 days of receiving a complaint against a candidate for the municipal election.

However, because the terms of four commissioners ended on March 16, there are only two active members of the commission.

Commissioners are appointed by the governor with the advice and consent of the Senate for a four-year term.

Kelli Jones, spokeswoman for Gov. Mike Parson, said that Parson plans to appoint two people to the commission in the next two weeks.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott set June 14 as the date for an emergency special election to fill the House seat vacated by Democratic Rep. Filemon Vela.

Vela resigned from Congress on March 31 just months before the end of his current term that would have ended in January. Vela is among 31 House Democrats who said they would not seek reelection this year.

The winner of the election will only have the seat for five months before the November midterms determine who will represent the 34th Congressional District for the following two years.

The Kansas Legislature adjourned its regular session sine die in the early hours of Saturday, April 2.

During the session, several bills related to campaign finance were introduced but not passed.

House Bill 2707, related to political advertising, sought to define corrupt advertising as communications that do not disclose the name of the sponsoring organization and of the chairperson, treasurer, or other individual responsible for the ad.

The last action on the bill was a referral to the Election Commissar on February 15.

Lawmakers successfully passed an unconstitutionally gerrymandered congressional map and a $22 billion state budget plan that contained a raise for state workers.

Issues that weren’t resolved are expected to be taken up during a veto session, which is slated to begin Monday, April 25.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The Idaho State Legislature adjourned sine die March 31.

The 81-day session focused mostly on infrastructure and education.

Starting the session with a nearly $2 billion surplus and billions in federal covid relief funds, lawmakers approved Gov. Brad Little’s “Leading Idaho” plan, providing $300 million to bolster k-12 public school budgets, a 7% increase in educator salaries, and funding an optional full-day kindergarten program.

Lawmakers also passed a bill modeled after the Texas abortion ban, the most restrictive abortion law in the country.

Planned Parenthood since filed a lawsuit with the Idaho Supreme Court requesting an injunction.

This does affect lobbyist reporting.

A lobbyist activity report will be due April 15, covering March 1 through March 31.

Patricia Guerro has been sworn in as one of the seven judges on the bench of the California Supreme Court.

Gov. Newsom appointed Guerro to the court after Justice Mariano-Florentine resigned to become president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Prior to her appointment, Guerro served as a judge for California’s Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division One.

The Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance (OCPF) revised the state’s campaign finance regulations to address issues related to payment applications, the depository reporting schedule, and independent expenditures.

Under the revised regulations, contributions may be received through peer-to-peer payment applications.

The revised regulations also flesh out the rules surrounding independent expenditures made by traditional PACs and ballot question committees and update the depository reporting schedule to match the schedule contained in G.L. §55-19.

The revised regulations are now in effect.

Gov. Jim Justice vetoed Senate Bill 729, citing technical errors in the bill.

Gov. Justice plans to call a special session of the West Virginia Legislature to address the errors in the economic development bill, which creates a self-sustaining loan fund managed by the West Virginia Economic Development Authority.

The special session will coincide with the Legislature’s interim meetings scheduled between April 24 and April 26.