A special election for the Massachusetts 16th Worcester Representative District has been called to fill a vacancy caused by the resignation of Representative John P. Fresolo.

The office of the Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin announced the special primary election will be held on August 13. The special general election will follow on September 10.

Fresolo resigned from the House of Representatives on May 22 after a House ethics investigation. The nature of the investigation has not been made public, according to the Boston Globe.

Last week the Maine State Legislature passed Legislative Document 184 and over the weekend Governor Paul LePage signed it into law. Legislative Document 184 requires legislators to wait one year after their term ends before engaging in activities that would require registration as a lobbyist or lobbyist associate.

Exempted from this prohibition are those former legislators who wish to engage in lobbying activities but do not receive compensation. If a legislator does engage in compensated lobbying activities during the restricted period, he or she is subject to a $1,000 civil penalty.

The law will not take effect until the start of the 127th Legislature, which will begin in December 2014.

The Texas Legislature adjourned sine die yesterday on May 27.

However, the Legislature was immediately called into special session by Governor Rick Perry. The special session began in the evening, but cannot last longer than 30 days.

The initial call for the special session will focus on approving redistricting maps drawn for the 2012 election by federal judges, according to KRISTV.com. Other items are expected to be added to the special session’s agenda.

Photo of the Texas State Capitol by Kumar Appaiah on Wikipedia.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die one week early on May 24. Adjourning a week early saved $140,000 in expenses for the Legislature, according to The Times Record News.

Governor Mary Fallin, who has pocket veto power, has until June 8 to sign or veto any bills presented to her.

Governor Dennis Daugaard is preparing to call a special session of the Legislature. The Governor gave notice to state lawmakers of his plans citing developments with the construction of a new State Veterans Home in Hot Springs. Lawmakers approved funding for the project during the regular session, but the lowest bid is more than $10 million more than the appropriated amount.

The special session is expected to be called for late June and last no longer than a day.

Photo of Gov. Dennis Daugaard by Otis 1000 on Wikipedia.

Governor Jerry Brown has called a special election for Assembly District 52 to fill a vacancy following the resignation of Assembly Member Norma Torres.

The primary will be held July 23, 2013. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, a special general election will be held on September 24, 2013.

Torres vacated the Assembly seat following her successful election to Senate District 32 on May 14, 2013. Assembly District 52 covers parts of San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties.

First there was Arthur Branch. Then came Jack McCoy. Now it’s Charles Hynes’ turn to star as a New York City district attorney on the small screen. Only Hynes is not an actor or a character, he is an actual district attorney who is in the middle of a fierce campaign to keep his job. And his main opponent for the Democratic nomination is crying foul.

Abe George is suing Hynes, his committee, and CBS in New York over what he calls illegal campaign contributions. CBS is producing and has aired the first episode in a six-part reality series titled Brooklyn D.A. This reality series will follow Hynes and the rest of the Kings County District Attorney’s Office as they do their job for the cameras.

George is not pleased with the free publicity Hynes will be receiving since they are in a heated campaign to garner the Democratic nomination for the position. He believes the air time should be considered a campaign contribution, and with the series’ value over the $5,000 limit, he believes it is an illegal contribution.

Hynes has been the district attorney in the county since 1989, and George believes he is willing to do anything to stay in power. “[He] has been the Brooklyn district attorney since 1989 and has operated under a mounting public perception that he will do anything, including misusing his broad prosecutorial powers, to achieve political gain for himself.”

CBS disagrees with George’s assertion and refuses to stop airing the show.

Sonya McNair, spokeswoman for CBS News, said, “We are surprised that this candidate would not know about the First Amendment. This is obviously a publicity push by a politician.”

For what it’s worth, Hynes believes this show will guarantee a victory for his campaign. He said, “If they couldn’t take me out then, boy, you’ll never be able to take me out now.”

The next episode of Brooklyn D.A. airs Tuesday, May 28, at 10:00 p.m. on CBS.

Photo of Charles Hynes courtesy of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York on Wikipedia.

Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed a bill Monday further extending the state’s contribution limits to other elected offices. Senate Bill 5748 now sets contribution limits on candidates running for a seat on a public hospital district board of commissioners in a district with a population over 150,000.

No person, other than a bona fide political party or a caucus political committee, will be allowed to contribute more than $900 per election for those candidates. Each primary, general, and special election are considered a separate election for purposes of the contribution limits, so a person would be allowed to contribute $900 during the primary and another $900 during the general election.

Senator Pam Roach was the bill’s main sponsor and she said, “This is a victory for citizens who reside in public hospital districts…Recent commission races have seen large contributions from single sources that have over powered the campaigns. All elected positions in state, county, and local government have campaign finance limitations except for public hospital commissioners. There is no reason that candidates for public hospital district board of commissioners should not live under the same rules as other elected officials. This bill corrects that problem.”

The bill will take effect on July 28, 2013.

Photo of Gov. Jay Inslee courtesy of Thomas Sørenes on Wikipedia.

The Alabama Legislature adjourned just before midnight on Monday, May 20, 2013, but not before passing major changes to the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act.

The most significant change is the elimination of limits on corporate contributions to candidates and political action committees. Under the new law, corporations will be permitted to contribute in the same manner as individuals, who are not subject to any contribution limits, with the exception of retaining the state’s pay-to-play prohibition on contributions to the Public Service Commission by utilities the commission regulates. The bill also makes 527 organizations subject to the ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers and adds enforcement and penalty provisions.

The Secretary of State’s Office will release information regarding the effective date of these provisions since the law must first receive Department of Justice preclearance before it becomes enforceable.

Montana Governor Steve Bullock has named a new commissioner of political practices, according to the Independent Record.

Jonathan Motl will begin service as the commissioner by June 10 to complete the final three years of a six-year term left vacant by prior unconfirmed appointees. A Senate confirmation hearing for the position will not be held until early 2015.

Lawmakers have ended the 2013 legislative session. Although both chambers are scheduled to convene on May 22, 2013, for a technical session, the House marked the conclusion with the traditional and celebratory paper toss on Friday, May 17, 2013.

Several bills aimed at reinstating or expanding the ethics reforms of Senate Bill 844 failed to pass. The major 2010 ethics reforms in Senate Bill 844 were found to be unconstitutional by the Missouri Supreme Court because they were joined to a procurement bill.

Photo of the Missouri State Capitol by RebelAt on Wikipedia.

PACs and candidates behind in filing their scheduled reports with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission may be facing thousands of dollars in fines, according to NewsOK.com.

Executive Director Lee Slater will be focusing efforts this summer on clearing up the backlog of PACs and candidates not keeping up with reporting requirements. More than two dozen PACs have not filed their latest quarterly reports due April 30.

The commission can charge each committee or candidate $100 per day for each day it is late filing, with a total maximum penalty of $1,000. NewsOK.com reports the commission will be hiring a hearing officer before it starts to mail out its penalty assessments, anticipating candidates’ guaranteed right to protest.

The Legislature adjourned sine die on May 17, 2013, without an attempt to override Governor Mike Beebe’s vetoes on three election bills.

Senate Bill 719 would have transferred power of election oversight to the Secretary of State from the Board of Election Commissioners. Senate Bill 720 would have created mandatory referrals of ethics complaints from the board to the Ethics Commission when the compliant was without basis in law or fact. Senate Bill 721 would have removed all of the board’s current commissioners and established a new appointment process.

On May 15, the Bergen County, New Jersey Board of Chosen Freeholders voted to override County Executive Kathleen A. Donovan’s veto of the new pay-to-play ordinance that passed on May 1.

This is the second pay-to-play ordinance vetoed by the county executive in the last eight months. On October 5, 2012, Donovan had vetoed a prior pay-to-play measure passed by the Board.

Freeholder Ordinance 13-06 changes the code to include lowering the debarment period for future county contracts from four years to one year. Under the new ordinance, contractors will also be able to make political contributions up to $5,200 to county political parties.

According to NorthJersey.com, another vote on the ordinance is required because the public notice for the legislation was not properly published. The board next meets on Wednesday, May 22.