In the wake of an Oregon Supreme Court ruling last week overturning long standing precedents declaring campaign contribution limits in Oregon elections unconstitutional, Portland will enforce a voter approved $500 per donor limit starting Monday.

The court ruled that contribution limits do not violate free speech.

However, they asked lower courts to decide if $500 per donor limits, approved first by Multnomah County voters and then by Portland voters, are too low.

Portland city election officials say they’ll begin enforcing the contribution limits after the Oregon Court of Appeals on Tuesday overturned a Multnomah County Circuit judge’s decision declaring campaign contribution limits in city elections unconstitutional.

However, election officials will not retroactively enforce the limits. Candidates who violate the new donation limits will face fines of up to $3,000 per violation.

The New York Joint Commission on Public Ethics introduced a new feature on the state Lobbying Application.

Their aim is to minimize the risk of duplicate profiles and improve functionality.

Additionally, this feature allows creating or claiming an organization profile (lobbyist, client, public corporation, or coalition).

In turn, this allows information to prepopulate a client’s semiannual report, provide more transparency, increase reliability, and reduce filing delays.

JCOPE also announced the mechanism to assign an individual as a Chief Administrative Officer and Delegated Administrator has changed.

To authorize an individual for either of these specific roles, the individual’s user identification number must be provided.

The ability to assign an individual as the CAO or the DA merely by entering their first and last name in a search field has been eliminated.

Any questions about navigating the Lobbying Application may be directed to the JCOPE Lobbying Helpdesk at (518) 474-3973 or by emailing helpdesk@jcope.ny.gov.

Due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns, the Board of Elections voted to cancel the presidential primary on June 23.

The presidential primary was previously rescheduled from April 28 to June 23 due to the state of emergency.

The decision to cancel the presidential primary does not affect the congressional special election, state, and local primaries scheduled for June 23.

On April 24, Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.23 to reschedule state assembly and senate special elections.

The elections now move from June 23 to November 3 due to the ongoing COVID-19 state of emergency.

Additionally rescheduled to the same day as the general election, are special elections for the 50th Senate District and the 12th, 31st, and 136th Assembly Districts.

The executive order also reschedules a special election for Queens Borough President from June 23 to November 3.

The Alabama Legislature’s leadership has announced the Legislature’s return will be delayed until May 4.

Originally set to return on April 28, the decision complies with Gov. Kay Ivey’s stay-at-home order, which remains in effect until April 30.

This delay will require the Legislature to work quickly as the session must adjourn sine die on or before May 18, per the state constitution.

Gov. Ralph Northam has postponed upcoming elections for two weeks.

Pursuant to a pair of executive orders, the general and special elections scheduled for May 5 will instead be held on May 19.

Additionally, the primary election scheduled for June 9 will be held June 23.

On April 24, the Hawaii State Ethics Commission further extended the deadline for lobbyist and employer activity reports to June 1 in response to COVID-19.

Originally, reports for the January 1 to February 29 period were due on March 31.

The stay-at-home orders prompted the commission to extend the deadline to April 30.

Now the deadline has been further extended to June 1.

This does not affect lobbyist and employer activity reports due June 1 for the reporting period of March 1 to April 30.

The Republican Party of Wisconsin postponed its annual state convention from May to July because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The convention will now take place over two days instead of three on July 10-11 in Green Bay.

State Democrats have already changed their convention to one day, June 12, in Wisconsin Dells.

Additionally, the party will decide by May 1 whether it will be in-person or change to a virtual event.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the State Ethics Commission announced a filing deadline extension for lobbyist monthly and quarterly reports until July 10.

This extension affects monthly reports due on April 10, May 10, and June 10, in which the lobbyist has expended or agreed to expend $100 or more in furtherance of lobbying activities to influence legislative action in the preceding month.

The filing deadline for the first quarterly report was also extended until July 10.

The commission is expected to send out further details by email to notify all filers.

On April 21, the General Assembly announced the regular session will not reconvene before the May 6 constitutional adjournment date.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the legislative session has been suspended since March 11.

Legislative leaders expect a special session to be called in the coming months to address pending bills to ensure the continuity of government functions.

This does not immediately affect lobbyist reporting.

The Oregon Supreme Court, reversing its longstanding ban on strict campaign finance limits, ruled in favor of a voter approved Multnomah County law putting a $500 limit on campaign donations.

The court concluded contribution limits are not invalid under the state constitution.

The case has been sent back to a lower court to decide whether Multnomah County’s dollar limits themselves are too low, while tossing out the limits Multnomah County voters set on campaign expenditures.

The ruling could lead to new campaign finance limits throughout the state.

Oregon voters will vote on a proposed constitutional amendment this fall allowing limits on the flow of big money into political campaigns.

Oregon has been one of only a handful of states in the country with no limits on political donations and spending.

The special election to fill two vacancies on the Board of Aldermen, originally scheduled for May 19, has been postponed to June 23 by a state appeals court panel.

Mayor Lyda Krewson had requested the Board of Elections postpone the special election in wards 4 and 12 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The board had to go to court to reschedule as, under city charter requirements, May 19 was the latest possible date for voting in Ward 4.

Additionally May 26 the latest date allowed in Ward 12.

Wondering how to vote in the 2020 Ohio Primary election?

Curious about how the decennial census affects you?

The Greater Akron Chamber, our President and CEO Elizabeth Bartz, and Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose have you covered!

On April 17, Gov. Ned Lamont signed Executive Order No. 7BB to reschedule the presidential primary to Tuesday, August 11, due to the ongoing public health crisis caused by COVID-19.

This is the second rescheduling of the presidential primary and the new date will coincide with the state and federal primary on August 11.

The governor had previously rescheduled the presidential primary from April 28 to June 2.