A special election will be held on April 9 to fill the vacancy in House District 139 due to the death of Rep. Richard Smith in January.

A runoff is scheduled for May 7, if necessary.

Gov. Kathy Hochul issued a proclamation ordering a special election to fill the vacancy in the U.S. House of Representatives District 26 for the unexpired term of Rep. Brian Higgins.

The special election will be held on April 30.

Higgins, who announced his resignation citing frustrations about the growing dysfunction in Congress, will become president of Shea’s Performing Arts Center.

U.S. House District 26 covers parts of Erie and Niagara counties in western New York.

A new bill introduced into the West Virginia House of Representatives could repeal all state lobbying statutes and criminalizes the act of paying someone to influence any member of the Legislature.

House Bill 5402 could also criminalize the act of receiving money to influence any member of the Legislature.

Both acts would be considered a felony and will constitute a fine or, after no more than five infractions, imprisonment.

Lawmakers are convening a special session called by Gov. Tate Reeves to finalize a $10 billion economic project on January 25.

The project’s aim is to create two large scale data centers.

The name of the company will be announced after the session concludes.

This session is similar to a previous special session held last week for an equally impactful economic project.

As before, this special session could last as little as one day.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a special election will be held on Tuesday, February 13 to fill the vacancy in the 77th Assembly District.

The vacancy was created when Rep. Latoya Joyner resigned to pursue a different professional opportunity.

The winner of this election will serve the remainder of Joyner’s term ending in the fall.

Lawmakers are convening a special session called by Gov. Tate Reeves to finalize a huge economic project in an effort to bolster Mississippi’s job market and economy.

Reeves said the project will create 2,000 jobs in Marshall County with an average annual salary of $66,000.

The special session is occurring during the regular 2024 legislative session and is predicted to last only a single day.

Texas lobbying and campaign finance thresholds have increased to reflect changes in the consumer price index.

The thresholds for lobbyist compensation and reimbursement increased from $1,760 to $1,870.

Lobbyist expenditures increased from $810 to $820 per calendar quarter, not including expenditures for an individual’s travel, food, lodging, or membership dues.

If a lobbyist does not intend to exceed $2,150 during a calendar year in expenditures, the lobbyist may file an annual report due on January 10.

Salary reporting thresholds have also increased.

Compensation or reimbursement required to be reported must be reported as an exact amount if the compensation or reimbursement received exceeds $1,076,130.

Regarding campaign finance, a general-purpose and specific-purpose committee may not accept political contributions or expenditures totaling more than $1,050 without filing a campaign treasurer appointment.

Other changes include PAC contribution and expenditure report increases for the amount of political contributions from each person in the aggregate exceeding $110 during the reporting period; the amount of loans that exceed in the aggregate $140; and the amount of political expenditures that exceed in the aggregate $220.

Georgia is replacing its lobbyist e-filing system for 2024.

Clients and lobbyists will have to register, but only once in the new system.

Lobbyists will be able to reregister every year based on this initial registration and clients will only register once to establish their account.

Lobbyists are currently authorized to lobby on behalf of new clients they register while authorization approval is pending.

This ability to lobby on behalf of new clients while awaiting approval of clients is for calendar year 2024 only.

Due to the new system, the Ethics Commission has decided to not collect or assess late fees for lobbyists provided they make a concerted effort to file reports and comply with their reporting requirements until March 31.

A special election has been scheduled on February 13 for state Senate District 30.

The vacancy is due to the resignation of Sen. Mike Dugan, who is running for Congress.

A runoff, if needed, will be held on March 12.

Gov. Jeff Laundry called a special session to redraw the state’s congressional district map.

This comes in the aftermath of a federal judge ruling Louisiana’s congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting power of Black voters.

The session is scheduled to convene January 15 and could potentially address other issues including a redrawing of state Supreme Court districts and moving from an open primary election system to a closed primary system.

Immediately following transparency complaints in early 2023, the state Senate moved to make financial disclosures of members available online.

Now, the Senate has gone further and voted to mandate public disclosure of additional information about personal finances and potential conflicts of interest.

Senators, along with their spouses and domestic partners, will now be required to file a more comprehensive form similar to those required of candidates for state office.

The form asks about employment; investment or other income greater than $5,000; board service; greater than 10% ownership of a company; leases or contracts with the state; and lobbying activities.

Gov. Mike DeWine announced special election dates for the 6th Congressional District seat.

U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson is vacating the seat on January 21 to become the president of Youngstown State University.

A partisan primary is scheduled alongside the state primary election for March 19, with a separate general election scheduled for June 11.

The Wichita City Council amended the campaign finance ordinance to prohibit city candidates from accepting political contributions from corporations and limited liability companies.

Individuals, political action committees, sole proprietorships, professional associations, and partnerships continue to be permitted to make campaign contributions.

A violation of the ordinance is a misdemeanor, with penalties of up $2,500 in fines and six months in jail.

The ordinance was passed as an emergency measure, making the changes effective immediately.

The U.S. District Court granted a motion for a preliminary injunction in Minnesota Chamber of Commerce v. Choi (0:23-cv-02015), preventing the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board from enforcing a bill restricting political activities by foreign-influenced corporations.

House File 3 was to be effective January 1, 2024, and would require a corporation making a contribution to a ballot question or an independent expenditure to submit a certification to the board that it was not a foreign-influenced corporation as of the date the contribution or expenditure was made.

The bill defines a foreign-influenced corporation as one for which a single foreign investor owns 1% or more; two or more foreign investors own 5% or more; or a foreign investor participates directly or indirectly in the corporation’s decision-making process with respect to the corporation’s political activities in the United States.