On March 13, Speaker of the House Nicholas Mattiello and President of the Senate Dominick Ruggerio announced General Assembly sessions and hearings are canceled for the week of March 16 to March 20 due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

All legislative offices are closed to allow the Department of Administration to clean the State House.

Legislative leaders will monitor the developing situation to determine if future steps are required.

Less than 24 hours before the scheduled primary election, Gov. Mike DeWine, Lt. Gov. Jon Husted and Secretary of State Frank LaRose announced a lawsuit will be filed in Franklin County today.

This will be requesting Tuesday’s in-person primary election be postponed until June 2.

The proposal will extend the deadline for requesting absentee ballots for voters who are unforeseeably confined or hospitalized.

In turn it will offer curbside voting for anyone concerned about entering their polling place as the state’s primary election rolls on during the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Husted explained the June 2 date would allow anyone who had planned to vote in person to request an absentee ballot and return it in time to vote in the election.

Whether or not the election will be postponed will be decided by court order.

On March 13, the Legislature adjourned until Tuesday, March 24, due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

The State House will be closed for cleaning and all staff except essential security and IT personnel will work remotely.

Legislative leaders will reevaluate whether to extend the break after the one-week closure.

House legislators approved a bill to establish a new unpaid emergency leave of 20 days for employees with a suspected or actual diagnosis of a pandemic illness.

House Bill 2428 seeks to amend Puerto Rico Law 180-1998.

This establishes paid sick and vacation leave benefits to some private sector employees, excluding employees classified as executives, administrators, and professionals, among others.

If the bill is enacted, employees who are sick or suspected of being sick as a result of a pandemic illness during a state of emergency must first use any accrued sick leave.

Once accrued sick leave is exhausted, employees may use accrued vacation leave to receive pay during any absence.

The bill also allows employees to use the unpaid emergency leave before using accrued vacation leave.

House Bill 2428 is before the Puerto Rico Senate for consideration.

Louisiana lawmakers plan to create a contingency package of spending bills in case coronavirus concerns threaten to derail the session.

Under the constitution, the legislature is required to pass a balanced budget before the fiscal year ends on June 30.

Ordinarily, legislators don’t pass a state budget until the final hours of the session, which must end this year by June 1.

The state’s Revenue Estimating Conference has not yet settled on an official revenue projection.

The purpose of the projection is to dictate how much a lawmaker may spend.

Both the House and Senate remain on schedule to debate the budget and all other legislation.

Members of the Oklahoma Legislature will meet in a special closed-door meeting March 16 to discuss the impact of the coronavirus in the state.

Republicans and Democrats will meet with state health officials to discuss the following:

• • State services
  • What other states are doing to curtail the spread of the virus
  • The future of the legislative session

Additionally, if the legislative session is suspended, Gov. Kevin Stitt may call lawmakers back into session at a later date.

On Sunday March 15, South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has announced all county elections will be postponed until after May 1.

Additionally, this announcement comes will a list of measures to help combat the spread of COVID-19.

These guidelines include the closing of all schools within the state for the remainder of March.

Due to concerns over COVID-19, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has postponed the March 24 presidential primary election to May 19.

The rescheduling moves the presidential primary to the same day as the state’s general primary.

The Ethics Commission has announced only minimal essential personnel will be in office from March 16 through April 6.

This will likely cause delays in precertification processing.

Accordingly, the Commission has requested that precertification requests be submitted well ahead of time to ensure timely processing.

A drop box has been placed in the front office to accommodate hand delivery during this period.

Citing concern for the health and well-being of the citizens, Secretary of State John Merrill is urging the state’s March 31 runoff elections be postponed.

In a statement over the weekend, Merrill requested an emergency opinion on whether the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency would authorize this postponement.

Merrill also stated there is no provision or process in Alabama’s Code or Constitution allowing changes to election dates after being set.

The Louisiana State Legislature announced that anyone planning to enter the state Capitol building will be screened for coronavirus beginning March 16.

An email was sent from the Senate and House Communication Offices regarding how to prevent the spread of the virus.

Besides all legislators, the staff and members of the public who enter will be subject to COVID-19 screening.

The Utah Republican and Utah Democratic parties intend to cancel their in-person state conventions.

Previously they were scheduled for April 25, and were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The decisions come after Gov. Gary Herbert announced that mass gatherings of groups in the state will be limited to 100 people.

Both party leaders say they are restructuring their April 25 state conventions, but had little information about how the meetings will look.

Vetting and candidate voting traditionally associated with the state convention will still occur, but primarily in an online format.

Campaign Finance

New York: “Judge Strikes Down New State Campaign Finance Law” by Samar Khurshid for Gotham Gazette

Tennessee: “Rutherford County Mayor Bill Ketron’s Campaign Finance Fines Stay at $80K, Board Rejects Request” by Scott Broden and Joel Ebert for MSN

Elections

National: “Some Democrats Urge Party to Weigh Alternatives for National Convention Amid Coronavirus Outbreak” by Isaac Stanley-Becker and Michael Scherer for MSN

Louisiana: “Louisiana’s Presidential Primary Election to Be Delayed Because of Coronavirus” by Sam Karlin for Baton Rouge Advocate

Ethics

Florida: “Andrew Gillum Linked to Meth Overdose Incident in Miami Beach Hotel, Police Reports Say” by Jeff Burlew (Tallahassee Democrat) for Palm Beach Daily News

Maryland: “States Are Banning Discrimination Against Black Hairstyles. For Some Lawmakers, It’s Personal.” by Ovetta Wiggins for Washington Post

North Carolina: “‘Tip of an Iceberg’: Evidence in NC bribery case hints at more intrigue” by Travis Fain for WRAL

Lobbying

National: “Coronavirus Shakes Up K Street” by Alex Gangitano for The Hill

Senate Majority Leader of Missouri Caleb Rowden announced, due to concerns over spreading the COVID-19 illness, the Senate will not meet next week.

The legislative spring break was set to begin on March 19, meaning the Senate is not scheduled to reconvene for the rest of the month.

The House will meet next week to work on the budget.