Due to COVID-19, the New Hampshire General Court has suspended all legislative activities through April 10.

During this time, the State House will be closed to legislative members, legislative staff, and visitors.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

On March 11, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey permanently enjoined the state from enforcing Senate Bill 150.

The bill was signed by the governor last June and was scheduled to take effect on October 15, 2019.

The dark money bill required independent expenditure committees to report contributions in excess of $10,000.

Additionally, the bill required reporting of expenditures in excess of $3,000 to the Election Law Enforcement Commission.

The order does not prevent the Legislature to revisit the issue with new legislation.

Mayor London N. Breed announced the Health Officer of the City and County of San Francisco has issued a Public Health Order.

This order requires residents to remain in place, with the only exception being for essential needs.

This measure is necessary to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Public Health Order is effective as of midnight on Tuesday, March 17 until April 7, unless amended or extended.

The physical offices of the ethics commission will be closed for the duration of the Public Health Order until April 7, unless otherwise noticed.

The regular monthly meeting scheduled for Friday, March 20, has been canceled.

However, the ethics commission remains open for business through its telework policy and technology.

Staff will continue to assist with filing guidance, online disclosure tools and resources, advice, and compliance assistance, among its other duties.

Filing deadlines established by law applying during this period remain in effect and have not been extended.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Oregon Legislatures called for a special legislative session to address the impact COVID-19 is having on the state.

The special session will convene when the Legislature has an emergency response package ready for consideration.

The Legislature’s Special Joint Committee on Coronavirus Response is scheduled to hold its first meeting Wednesday, March 18 at 10 a.m.

This will not affect any lobbyist reporting.

The Wyoming Democratic Party has canceled all county conventions and the in-person portion of its upcoming caucus.

The party has taken the precautions over increasing concerns around the coronavirus outbreak.

The events to assign Wyoming’s 13 pledged delegates, scheduled for April 4, will now be handled exclusively through the mail.

Voters can still drop their ballots off in person at one of the party’s dozens of collection spots around the state.

Voters can drop off their ballots on March 28 and April 4, and have them postmarked by March 20.

The change is not anticipated to interfere with any of the traditional functions of the caucus itself.

However, county delegates to the state convention, normally selected in person, could be elected by other means, pending approval by the Democratic National Committee.

As of now, the June 6 state convention in Powell is on schedule.

The Georgia General Assembly convened special session called by Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday, March 16 to adopt his declaration of a public health emergency.

After passing a joint resolution concurring with Gov. Kemp’s declaration, the General Assembly adjourned the special session, sine die.

Therefore, the regular session remains suspended indefinitely.

The Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission is expected to issue guidance as to whether this will affect lobbyist dates reporting.

Gov. Larry Hogan has announced the April primary elections have been postponed until June 2.

The special election for the 7^th Congressional District held by the late Rep. Elijah Cummings will still take place on April 28.

However, the election will be a mail-in only election, becoming the first federal election to shift to mail voting in response to COVID-19.

The Board of Elections will mail ballots out to all eligible voters later this month.

On March 17, Arkansas legislative leaders announced a suspension of the Arkansas Legislative Council meetings.

Specifically, this will affect the meetings scheduled for March 18 and March 19.

The decision to suspend the meetings until further notice follows the latest guidance regarding COVID-19.

House and Senate leadership continue to review contingency plans for this year’s regular session scheduled to begin April 8.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office will suspend all in-person services beginning March 18.

The suspension will continue until further notice to protect employees and customers from the spread of COVID-19.

The office call center will be operated remotely for all divisions, including business and licensing, charities, and elections.

Individuals seeking to file paper documents at the office may now submit those documents via a drop-box.

The box will be placed outside the office’s waiting area during business hours.

Gov. Greg Abbot has postponed the special election for the Austin area Texas Senate District 14 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The election will replace retiring state Sen. Kirk Watson, an Austin Democrat leaving office at the end of April.

The election has been moved from May 2 to July 14.

It is unclear whether additional action will be taken to delay municipal elections across the state, which are scheduled for May 2.

The Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission is fully operational and has implemented preventative measures in line with COVID-19 precautions.

Staff are following the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Hawaii State Department of Health on the importance of hygiene etiquette.

The Campaign Spending Commission remains committed to maintaining the integrity and transparency of campaign finance in the 2020 election.

As such, noncandidate committee reports will still need to be timely filed.

Additionally, contact information should be up to date in each organizational report.

To check the status of an organizational report, log in to the noncandidate Filing System.

After logging in, click on “Edit Organizational Report” under the Administration tab.

The Office of the Secretary of State has closed through March 31 due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Online access remains available to all lobbyists and authorized agents.

Statutorily required deadlines, including lobbying semimonthly reports, are extended for 30 days.

The office indicates this status may be updated as operations are reviewed.

The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics announced an extension for the submission of bimonthly lobbyist activity reports.

This will allow the due date for the January to February reporting period to extend until Tuesday, March 31.

JCOPE extended the deadline due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

Effective immediately, JCOPE also suspended hand-delivery of paper filings to their Albany office until March 31.

As an alternative, filers may submit filings using the online filing system or via regular mail, provided filers use a sponge to seal the envelope.

This extension does not affect clients of lobbyists as statutory filings for client semiannual reports are not due until July 15.

The House and Senate leadership announced on March 16 that the 60-day legislative session is going into an immediate recess expected to last eight weeks.

Legislators are following the recent guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The guidelines urge the public to refrain from gathering in groups of more than 50 people for the next eight weeks to curtail the spread of COVID-19.

The session will resume where it left off subject to the call of Senate President Ron Kouchi and House Speaker Scott Saiki.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.