Gov. John Bel Edwards announced this week that the Louisiana Legislature will adjourn Friday, three weeks ahead of its scheduled date of adjournment.

An early end to the regular legislative session will allow Legislators to convene in a special legislative session scheduled to start on May 22.

The special session to address the state’s budget crisis will adjourn no later than June 4, the scheduled adjournment date of the regular session. At stake is $648 million in temporary taxes set to expire on July 1.

A February special session aimed at the budget failed to pass any taxes to close the budget gap.

The San Francisco, California Board of Supervisors unanimously passed, on first reading, campaign finance reform legislation aimed at providing more transparency in political contributions.

Among other provisions, the legislation will include pay-to-play provisions, local behested payment reporting requirements for both donors and City officers, and additional disclosure requirements for contributions made by business entities.

The legislation must pass a second reading at the Board of Supervisors and be signed by the mayor prior to becoming law.

Gov. Phil Scott called a special session for May 23, 2018. The governor is planning to veto the state budget and property tax bills passed during the regular session.

Gov. Scott has promised to veto any legislation that increases taxes or fees. If vetoed, the Legislature has until the end of June to pass a spending bill before the new fiscal year commences on July 1.

Lawmakers hope Gov. Scott will sign the current bills and make the special session unnecessary.

Campaign Finance

Missouri: “‘Shell Companies’ Gave Money to Gov. Eric Greitens’ Campaign: Memo released by lawmakers” by Will Schmidt for Springfield News-Leader

Elections

National: “A Secret Mission, a Code Name and Anxiety: Inside the early days of the F.B.I.’s Trump investigation” by Matt Apuzzo, Adam Goldman, and Nicholas Fandos (New York Times) for MSN

Ethics

National: “Thousands of Pages of Congressional Testimony Shed Light on 2016 Trump Tower Meeting” by Rosalind Helderman and Karoun Demirjian (Washington Post) for MSN

National: “Trump Discloses Payment to Cohen in Financial Report” by Steve Eder, Eric Lipton, and Ben Protess (New York Times) for Seattle Times

National: “Obama Ethics Chief Accuses Trump of Violating Emoluments Clause: ‘See you in court Mr. Trump’” by Avery Anapol for The Hill

National: “Top Novartis Lawyer Exits Over Trump Attorney Deal Error” by John Miller for Reuters

National: “Federal Judge Rejects Manafort’s Bid to Dismiss Mueller Indictment” by Josh Gerstein for Politico

Maryland: “Mayor Pugh Seeks Broad Ethics Exemption to Raise Private Money to Fund Baltimore Programs” by Ian Duncan for Baltimore Sun

Ohio: “Ex-Councilman Joe Cimperman on His Corruption Sentence: ‘This isn’t who I wanted to be’” by Cory Shaffer for Cleveland Plain Dealer

Lobbying

Florida: “Lobbyist Ron Book Tends to Get His Way in Miami-Dade, but This Time It’s a No.” by Douglas Hanks for Miami Herald

Campaign Finance

National: “Women Reaching New Levels in Political Donations” by Kate Ackley for Roll Call

National: “$1 Million Mystery Gift to Inauguration Traced to Conservative Legal Activists” by Robert Maguire for McClatchy DC

Idaho: “‘The Idahoan’ Ruled Exempt from Sunshine Law, Qualified as a ‘Newspaper’” by Betsy Russell for Idaho Press Tribune

New York: “U.S. Attorney Probing Major Donor to Gov. Andrew Cuomo” by Chris Bragg for Albany Times Union

Ethics

Missouri: “Case Against Greitens Is Dropped, for Now. Legislative Leaders Say Nothing’s Changed” by Bryan Lowry, Jason Hancock, Kelsey Landis, Allison Kite, and Steve Vockrodt for Kansas City Star

New York: “Energy Executive Admits Lying About ‘Low-Show Job’ for Percoco’s Wife” by Vivuian Wang and benjamin Weiser (New York Times) for WRAL

South Carolina: “S.C. Attorney General Candidate Voted for Medical Bills While Leading Physician Group” by Jamie Lovegrove for Charleston Post and Courier

Wisconsin: “Robin Vos, Other Wisconsin Lawmakers Billed Taxpayers $4,300 for One-Day Trip to Ohio” by Patrick Marley for Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Indiana special session convened and adjourned on May 14, as expected.

The special session had a limited agenda and the bills considered could not be amended.

The Legislature passed bills related to taxes, school safety, and the takeover of Muncie and Gary schools.

Campaign Finance

National: “Politicos Beware: Court ruling could prompt more transparent campaign spending” by Carrie Levine for Center for Public Integrity

Missouri: “Critics Say Governor’s Race Shows Need for Campaign Finance Reform” by Sarah Zimmerman (Associated Press) for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ethics

National: “Trump, Schneiderman, Greitens and the Changing Shape of Sex Scandals” by Marc Fisher (Washington Post) for Chicago Tribune

Alaska: “Legislature Will Boot Ballot Measure If Governor Signs ‘Government Accountability’ Bill” by James Brooks for Juneau Empire

Maryland: “Baltimore Police Commissioner De Sousa Has Not Filed Some Mandatory Ethics Forms” by Ian Duncan for Baltimore Sun

New York: “Jury Finds Silver Guilty” by Benjamin Weiser (New York Times) for Albany Times Union

Oklahoma: “Oklahoma Ethics Commission Votes to Sue Over Budget” by Nolan Clay for The Oklahoman

Lobbying

National: “Cohen Referred Client with Kushner Ties to Lobbying Firm” by Megan Wilson for The Hill

The Alaska Legislature passed House Bill 44, a bill with the potential to remove an initiative measure known as the Government Accountability Act from the November ballot.

Under the Alaska Constitution, if a bill is deemed to be substantially similar to an initiative, the initiative could be removed from the ballot.

Similar to the initiative measure, House Bill 44 prohibits lobbyists from purchasing alcoholic beverages for a legislator, implements a stricter policy on foreign travel, eliminates a per diem for legislators after 121 days if the budget has not been passed, and bans foreign corporations and nationals from making political contributions.

The governor has 20 days to sign, veto, or allow the bill to become law without his signature.

The Vermont General Assembly adjourned sine die May 12.

Lawmakers passed a bill to amend campaign finance provisions relating to electioneering communications and mass media activities.

House Bill 828 revises the definition of electioneering communications to include electronic or digital communications and adds internet advertisements to the definition of mass media activity.

The bill also makes it permissible to include a link that takes a reader to a web or social media page that provides the required information on electioneering communications broadcast over the internet when it cannot practically meet the identification requirements otherwise.

House Bill 828 also requires local candidates to file an additional report on the Friday preceding a local election.

If Gov. Phil Scott approves the bill, the electioneering changes are effective upon passage and the reporting requirements for candidates takes effect December 14, 2018.

The 2018 Kansas Legislature adjourned sine die. This legislative session was the first to go the full 90 days since 2011.

Lawmakers passed multiple transparency laws this session by expanding the definition of lobbying to include all branches of the government and increasing the penalties for late reporting by lobbyist, political committees, and candidates.

In the final day of the session, legislators defeated a bill to make changes to income, sales, and motor fuel tax provisions.

Ahead of its June 27 rulemaking hearing, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) has posted examples of internet disclaimers on its website. Currently, the FEC is accepting comments from the public concerning a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on REG 2011-02 (Internet Communication Disclaimers).

The proposals in the FEC notice deal with internet communications containing express advocacy, soliciting contributions, or internet communications made by political committees. The FEC says its goal “is to promulgate a rule that in its text and interpretation recognizes the paramount importance of providing the public with the clearest disclosure of the payor or sponsor of these public communications on the internet.”

The FEC notice also requests comments concerning a proposed change to the definition of “public communication.” The illustrative examples of internet disclaimers are available to view here.

On May 13, Elections Canada announced a federal by-election will be held on June 18 in the electoral district of Chicoutimi–Le Fjord (Quebec) to fill a vacancy in the House of Commons.

MP Denis Lemieux had announced his resignation in November of last year with an effective date of December 1.

Lemieux had cited family reasons for leaving office. He had been in the office since 2015.

The 30th Alaska Legislature adjourned sine die in the early hours of May 13.

The legislative session was extended with lawmakers working past the 90-day, voter-approved session limit in mid-April, but finishing within the constitutional time limit of up to 121 days.

Campaign Finance

National: “FEC Allows Candidate to Use Campaign Funds for Child Care” by Aris Folley for The Hill

Connecticut: “The Place Mat King: Sen. Tony Hwang spent $15K on restaurant ads” by Neil Vigdor for Hartford Courant

Missouri: “Donors Behind Political Cash Cannot Be Concealed, Ethics Watchdog Says” by Sky Chadde for St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Ethics

National: “These Women Mostly Ignored Politics. Now, Activism Is Their Job.” by Campbell Robertson (New York Times) for MSN

New York: “Special Prosecutor Appointed in Schneiderman Probe” by Rachel Silberstein for Albany Times Union

Lobbying

National: “AT&T Ousts Top Lobbyist After Payments to Trump Attorney” by Melissa Repko and Tom Benning for Dallas News

Arizona: “Tactics Scrutinized in Phoenix Medical-Marijuana Dispensary Cases” by Jessica Boehm for Arizona Republic

Florida: “It Was Supposed to Show Who Profited from Public Money. But the Rule Wasn’t Enforced” by Elizabeth Koh for Miami Herald