The 28th Alaska State Legislature adjourned an extended session sine die on Friday, April 25.

Originally set to adjourn April 20, both the House and Senate remained in session until compromising on a major education reform bill and a controversial bridge bill.

SB12, signed into law September 2013, goes into effect today. The bill amends the state procurement code and makes changes to procurement preferences, contract awards, small purchase procedures and thresholds, minimum competition requirements, methods of bid submission, vendor registration requirements, and applicable definitions.

Vendors may contact Chief Procurement Officer Jason Soza with any questions concerning the bill. Additionally, a summary of all changes can be found on the Department of General Services website.

Lawmakers adjourned the first session of the 28th Legislature on April 14, 2013. Before adjourning, lawmakers passed an elections bill to better comply with a federal law requiring absentee military voters to receive ballots 45 days before a federal election.

House Bill 104 moves the date of the primary election from the fourth Tuesday in August to the third Tuesday in August of every even-numbered year. The bill also proposes a special runoff election following a special election to fill the vacancy of a U.S. Senator or U.S. Representative if no candidate in the special election receives more than 50 percent of the vote.

In addition, the bill allows a person requesting an opinion from the Alaska Public Offices Commission to keep the name of the requestor confidential.

The effective date of the bill is January 1, 2014.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Arizona State Legislature

Arkansas State Legislature

Georgia General Assembly

Iowa Legislature

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Legislative Assembly of Puerto Rico

Washington State Legislature

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Alaska State Legislature

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Hawaii State Legislature

The Alaska Legislative Ethics Committee has issued an advisory opinion allowing incumbent legislators to sign pre-election pledges during re-election campaigns.

So long as the pledge is in exchange only for an endorsement or a promise of an endorsement it does not violate the Legislative Ethics Act. However, the committee also determined the signing of pre-election pledges in a quid pro quo exchange for a campaign contribution or a promise of a campaign contribution would violate the act.

Special interest groups often request candidates to take positions on certain topics by signing a pledge.

“Sunlight Foundation Unveils New Legislative Alert Service, Monitoring Action On Capitol Hill And All 50 States” by Sarah Lai Stirland in TechPresident.

“More on Legislative Turnover” by Karl Kurtz in NCSL’s The Thicket.

Arizona: “Fewer candidates vie for Arizona Legislature” by Mary Jo Pitzl in The Arizona Republic.

Maryland: “Maryland Becomes 40th State to Ratify 17th Amendment” by Karl Kurtz in The Thicket.

Redistricting

Alabama: “Inside the Statehouse: New district lines won’t change legislature” by Steve Flowers in the Jacksonville News.

Alaska: “Lawsuit claims redistricting procedure violates federal law” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Illinois: “Ill. Supreme Court rejects GOP challenge to state legislative remap” by Dave McKinney in the Chicago Sun-Times.

Kansas:  “In Kansas redistricting, new boundaries quickly bring new faces” by Dave Helling in the Kansas City Star.

Missouri: “Missouri senator will pursue redistricting changes” by The Associated Press in the Kansas City Star.

Photo of the Illinois State Capitol by Nikopoley in Wikipedia.

Alabama: “Redistricting bill stalls in Senate” by Sebastian Kitchen and Brian Lyman in the Montgomery Advertiser.

Alaska: “Haines Borough challenges latest redistricting plan” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Arizona: “Ariz. redistricting headed to two courts” by Howard Fischer in the Arizona Daily Sun.

California: “In Calif. redistricting experiment, how much better off will Democrats be?” by Tom Curry on MSNBC.com.

Kansas:  “Court allows lawmakers, voters to intervene in redistricting suit” by John Hanna of the Associated Press and Brent D. Wistrom of the Eagle Topeka bureau in the Kansas City Star.

Campaign Finance

“FEC to Congress: Expand ban on personal use of political committee funds” by Rachel Leven in The Hill.

Ethics

Arkansas: “Group throws financial weight behind ethics reform initiative” by Rob Moritz in Arkansas News.

Florida: “Gov. Rick Scott’s chief of staff draws ethics complaint for using state staff to apply for a job” by May Ellen Klas in The Miami Herald.

Florida: “Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s Chief of Staff Resigns Amid Scrutiny of State Contracts Awarded Friends” by Mary Ellen Klas in Governing.

Redistricting

Alaska: “State redistricting board will meet Monday to address supreme court concerns in SE Alaska” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Arizona: “Clean Elections Commission weighs in on redistricting suit” by Mary Jo Pitzl in the Arizona Republic.

Kansas:  “Kansas redistricting fight may navigate to the courts” in the Kansas City Business Journal.

Alaska:  “High court to hear redistricting petition” by The Associated Press in The Anchorage Daily News.

Kansas: “GOP redistricting fight could mean courts make final decision” by John Hanna (Associated Press) in the Lawrence Journal World.

North Carolina: “Redistricting sets stage for fall elections” by Emery Dalesio (Associated Press) in the Winston-Salem Journal.

Washington:  “Supreme Court upholds state redistricting plan” by Warren Kagarise in the Issaquah Press.

Alaska: “Redistricting map solutions elusive as court battle looms” by Richard Mauer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Kansas: “Kansas Senate OKs redistricting plan” by Brad Cooper in the Kansas City Star.

Kentucky: “Kentucky Supreme Court cites redistricting law as unconstitutional” by Franklin Clark in the Cadiz Record.

Mississippi: “Mississippi Senate unveils its redistricting map” by The Associated Press in the Clarion Ledger.

New Hampshire: “House redistricting plan faces more legal challenges” by Garry Rayno in the Union Leader.

Pennsylvania: “Redistricting panel to receive input on new Pa. maps” by Ali Lanyon (Associated Press) on WHTM.

South Carolina: “Supreme Court considering fate of primary candidates” by Gina Smith in The State.

South Carolina: “SC justices consider fate of dozens of candidates” by Jeffrey Collins (Associated Press) in the Spartanburg Herald Journal.

Vermont: “Vt. lawmakers finish redistricting” on NECN.com.

“Redistricting takes some of the ‘swing’ out of House fights” by Susan Davis in USA Today.

Alaska: “It may be too late for another legislative redistricting plan” by Becky Bohrer in the Anchorage Daily News.

Arizona: “State Supreme Court reaffirms that governor shouldn’t have fired redistricting chair” by Howard Fischer in the East Valley Tribune.

Kansas: “Kobach warns of redistricting crisis” by John Hanna (Associated Press) in the Lawrence Journal-World.

Mississippi: “Mississippi lawmakers tackle redistricting” by Phil West in The Commercial Appeal.

Pennsylvania: “Pennsylvania’s new map pits incumbent Democrats in primary” by Sean Lengell in The Washington Times.

Vermont: “Vermont Senate endorses redistricting plans” by Nancy Remsen in the Burlington Free Press.

Wyoming: “State: Redistricting plaintiffs have no standing to file suit” by Trevor Brown in the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

Alaska: “Alaska Redistricting Board says it has adopted new election districts” by Matt Buxton in the Fairbanks Daily News Miner.

Arizona: “Brewer signs bill to keep Arizona redistricting commission going while new maps are pending” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

Florida: “Redrawn Senate map passes House, scramble for seats begin” by Mary Ellen Klas in the Tampa Bay Times.

Florida: “Legislature ends redistricting session, new Senate map approved” by Mary Ellen Klas in The Miami Herald.

Idaho: “Redistricting will shake up Idaho Legislature” by Sean Ellis in the Capital Press.

Kansas: “Kan. House to debate congressional remap bill” by The Associated Press in the Salina Journal.

Maryland: “Group seeks referendum on new Md. congressional map” by Annie Linskey in The Baltimore Sun.

Missouri: “Missouri Supreme Court upholds House districts” by Elizabeth Crisp in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

West Virginia: “W.Va. lawmakers seek OK of congressional districts” by Eric Eyre in the Charleston Gazette.

Wisconsin: “Judges: Collaboration needed on Wis. voting maps” by The Associated Press on Madison.com.

Wisconsin: Opinion piece “Redistricting decision offers important lesson” by Christine Neumann-Ortiz in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.

Alaska: “Governor signs campaign finance bill” by The Associated Press in USA Today.

“Financial disclosures show power of super PACs” by Fredreka Schouten in USA Today.

“Santorum ‘super’ PAC returned big foreign donation” by Stephen Braun in the Boston Globe.

Good news iPhone owners! NCSL’s blog just noted the Alaska Legislature has come out with an app allowing you to keep up with legislative news on your phone. Best of all, it is free!

According to the blog, this is what you will find: “The app provides information on committee schedules, bill status, the house and senate calendars, and contact information of every legislator in both chambers. It also allows the user to stream committee hearings directly from your phone and watch the proceedings in real time.”

Be sure to take look at “New Alaska iPhone App” by Morgan Cullen on The Thicket.

Here is the iTunes App Store page with The Alaska Legislature App.

Thank you to Research Associate George Ticoras for pointing me in the direction of this news.