Kentucky State Sen. Stephen Meredith introduced a bill that would prohibit awarding, extending, or renewing state contracts with a bidder or contractor if the company had used a lobbyist to win an earlier version of the contract and the lobbyist was convicted of a related crime within the last five years.

The bill would apply retroactively to state contracts entered into since January 1, 2017.

The Delaware County Council has voted to approve an ordinance requiring contractors to disclose if they have made contributions for candidates running for certain county or state offices as well as political parties or political action committees.

Disclosure forms will be included in the publicly posted agenda materials for the applicable council meeting and will also be posted on the county website.

The ordinance will be effective in April.

Advocacy groups have filed three ballot measure proposals with the Office of Oregon Secretary of State, focusing on limiting campaign contributions and increasing donor disclosure requirements.

For the proposals to be placed on the 2022 ballot, each proposal would need to gather 112,020 signatures by July 8, four months before the general election.

Despite a request from Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, Gov. Mike Parson did not file writs of election to fill the six vacancies in the Missouri House.

Ashcroft expressed disappointment after the Monday deadline to place special elections on the April ballot passed.

Without a special election, the six affected districts would go without representation until January 2023.

Missouri law calls for the governor to issue a writ of election without delay and House District 34 has been without representation since April 2021 when former Rep. Rick Roeber was expelled.

The other vacancies are House District 61, 65, 108, 114, and 147.

The Illinois General Assembly has canceled in-person work for a second week due to COVID-19 concerns.

Of the nine scheduled session days, eight have now been pushed to remote.

Committee meetings can still be viewed by the public on the Legislature’s website.

The Hawaii State Ethics Commission welcomed Robert D. Harris as its new executive director.

Harris is replacing Daniel Gluck, who served as the executive director from 2016 until the end of 2021.

Last year Gluck was nominated to a vacancy on the Intermediate Court of Appeals, but the nomination failed after senators raised concerns about the court’s lack of diversity.

Early voting for Austin, Texas’s District 4 election has begun.

The election was called following Greg Casar’s announcement he will be running for Congress in District 35.

Early voting will be open until January 21, with polls closed on January 17 in observation of Martin Luther King Day.

The election will be held on Tuesday, January 25.

A special election has been scheduled for Pennsylvania House District 116 to be held on April 5.

The seat became vacant when Rep. Tarah Toohill was sworn in to serve on the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas.

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

The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office issued updated guidance related to the state’s campaign finance law.

The guidance clarifies the effects of House Bill 263, which went into effect on September 28, 2021 and finds that under the updated law, there is no contribution limit on the amount of money political advocacy organizations (commonly called PACs) can receive or contribute.

Additionally, though candidates were previously able to establish PACs and fundraise through them, the new guidance prohibits candidates from doing so in the future.

Candidates who registered PACs prior to September 28, 2021 may use the receipts obtained by those committees, but as of that date no new PACs may be established by candidates.

A special election has been scheduled for Pennsylvania House District 24 to be held on April 5.

The seat became vacant when former Rep. Edward Gainey was sworn in as the new mayor of Pittsburgh.

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

A second special election is also expected to be called to fill the House District 19 seat Rep. Jake Wheatley vacated when he resigned to become Mayor Gainey’s chief of staff.

A special election has been scheduled for Pennsylvania Senate District 5 to be held on May 17, the same day as the primary election.

The seat became vacant when Sen. John Sabatina Jr. resigned following his election to the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

The winner of the special election will serve the remainder of the four-year term set to expire in November 2024.

West Virginia Gov. Justice has called for a special session on January 10 to consider and act upon several items relating to economic development.

These items include a bill establishing a “West Virginia Industrial Advancement Act” and supplemental appropriation bills.

Gov. Newsom announced a special election to replace former Congressman Devin Nunes to be held on June 7, with the primary being held on April 5.

The election in Congressional District 22 will follow the old Congressional map.

The new map, approved late last year, will be used for the November 8 elections.

Nunes stepped down to take over as chief executive of former President Trump’s new media company, Trump Media & Technology Group.

New York Gov. Hochul announced special elections for February 15 to fill vacancies in Assembly District 60 and 72.

The seats became vacant when former Assembly members Charles Barron and Carmen De La Rosa began serving on the New York City Council.