The West Virginia Legislature held its second special session on June 24.

During the one-day session, lawmakers approved adjustments of roughly $1.95 billion to the state budget, including the allocation of surplus federal relief funding.

The Legislature also considered and passed bills relating to regional jails and alcohol sales.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has called the General Assembly to convene a special session beginning August 2.

The special session will focus on judicial appointments and the allocation of over $4.3 billion in federal COVID relief funding.

Candidates for office in Louisiana will soon no longer be subject to aggregate contribution limits from political committees combined under a bill signed into law June 22 by Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Effective August 1, the new law will remove the limitation on combined contributions for both the primary and general elections that may be accepted by any candidate and his principal and subsidiary campaign committees from a political committee.

Before the change, PAC donations have been limited to $80,000 for major office candidates in Louisiana, $60,000 for district office candidates and $20,000 for smaller office candidates. That cap is a total applied to the combined primary and general elections for a candidate.

Gov. Edwards signed the legislation despite opposition from the state board of ethics.

On June 22, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced he will convene a special session of the Legislature on July 8.

Agenda items for the special session have not been released yet but will be available prior to its start. Among the list of topics, Gov. Abbott promised to address is election integrity.

Last week, Abbott vetoed a portion of the state budget that funds the Texas Legislature. The move came weeks after House Democrats walked off the state House floor, leaving majority Republicans without the quorum they needed to approve the bill, SB 7, before a midnight regular legislative session deadline.

Republicans in Texas have sought to join states such as Florida and Georgia that have adopted restrictions making it harder for some residents to vote.

It is not clear whether Republicans will enter the special session set on approving SB 7 as it’s currently drafted or will seek to make further changes.

The measure would have made mail-in voting more difficult by requiring voters to supply more information, prohibiting local elections officials from sending out absentee ballot applications to anyone who has not requested one or from working with get-out-the-vote groups that are encouraging Texans to vote by mail.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson called a special session of the Legislature beginning June 23 to pass the federal reimbursement allowance (FRA), which renews a tax on medical providers to help pay for the state’s Medicaid program.

Lawmakers have until September 30 to pass the FRA.

California Secretary of State Shirley Weber announced that the Cal-Access Replacement System, scheduled to roll out June 30, will be postponed.

The replacement system seeks to update the current paper driven system to an electronic system.

On June 18, the Alaska Legislature adjourned a special session after failing to alter the effective date of the state budget.

Under the Alaska constitution, bills take effect 90 days after enactment unless two-thirds of the House and two-thirds of the Senate approve an earlier date.

The House could not meet this threshold.

Gov. Dunleavy issued a proclamation, calling lawmakers into another special session starting June 23 with the goal of passing a state budget before July 1.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice has announced another special session for lawmakers on June 24.

The special session is aimed at appropriations of over $250 million of budget surplus prior to the end of the fiscal year on June 30.

On June 17, the Connecticut Legislature adjourned a special session after passing bills related to the state budget and recreational marijuana use.

The cannabis bill allows applicants from communities affected by high drug-related issues to acquire business licenses.

If signed by Gov. Lamont, Connecticut will become the 19th state to legalize marijuana.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

The New York State Legislature adjourned on June 11.

During the legislative session lawmakers introduced and failed to pass bills to ban corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and limited liability partnerships from making political contributions; create a restricted period for vendor contributions; and increase required lobbyist disclosures of political contributions and business relationships with public officials.

The Senate is expected to return later this summer regarding the confirmation of state appointments.

The Assembly is expected to continue an impeachment inquiry through the summer months regarding sexual harassment allegations made against the governor.

On June 14, the Minnesota Legislature returned to the capitol for a special session.

In this session, lawmakers will be finalizing a two-year, $52 billion budget before the start of the next fiscal period July 1.

If the legislature fails to pass a budget before July 1, there will be a government shutdown.

Montana’s Supreme Court has held Senate Bill 140 is constitutional.

SB 140 allows the governor to appoint judges directly, abolishing the judicial nomination commission.

Nevada Gov. Sisolak signed Assembly Bill 126, which changed Nevada’s presidential caucus system to a government-run primary election.

The bill requires to the presidential primary to be held on the first Tuesday in February in a presidential election year.

Members of the Joint Committee on Corporations, Elections and Political Subdivisions voted to draft bills to create either an open primary or a ranked-choice voting system.

Currently, Wyoming operates under a dual partisan primary system.

Under this system, each party holds an independent primary to select its candidate for the general election.

An open primary system allows for all parties to compete in a single primary election, with the top two votes advancing to the general election.

Rank-choice allows for voters to rank candidates in order of preference on their ballots, with the candidate securing the majority winning the election.

If no candidate wins the majority, the lowest candidate gets eliminated, the votes for that person go to the voters’ second choice, and the votes are retabulated until a majority is reached.