State lawmakers voted on March 14 to suspend the Colorado legislature for two weeks over concerns about the coronavirus.

The decision comes after Gov. Jared Polis issued guidance against gatherings of more than 250 people.

The General Assembly, which began its session on January 8, will adjourn until March 30 in the interest of public health.

On Sunday, the Iowa House and Senate announced the legislative session will be suspended for a minimum of 30 days due to concerns over COVID-19.

The House and Senate will convene today at the regular scheduled time to consider resolutions regarding continuity of government.

Previously scheduled subcommittee and committee meetings have been cancelled, and standing committees will be on-call as needed.

The Capitol building opens today at 11:00 am, with entrances open on both the south and west sides.

The Department of Public Health will administer health screenings to all persons prior to entering the Capitol.

This includes filling out a health questionnaire as well as a temperature reading.

All schedule events, tours, and receptions at the Capitol are cancelled until further notice.

The Nebraska Legislature announced on March 16 that it will temporarily suspend its legislative session due to growing concerns about COVID-19.

The Legislature will not meet as scheduled March 17 and will remain suspended until reconvened by the speaker’s office.

This does not immediately affect lobbyist reporting.

On March 16, the Legislature announced the postponement of the session until later this week due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns.

Lawmakers hope to resume the session on Wednesday to take action on coronavirus legislation and the state budget.

This will not affect lobbyist reporting.

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.