Lobbying

“Lobby shop hires former Obama campaign staffer” by Kevin Bogardus in The Hill.

Massachusetts: “Fmr Sen. Brian Lees to join lobbying firm of former rival” by Andy Metzger on WWLP News.

Campaign Finance

“EMILY’S List Raises Almost $10 Million For Women Candidates” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

Missouri: “Significant campaign donor challenges proposed Mo. ballot measure seeking to cap contributions” by The Associated Press in the Daily Journal.

Virginia: “Pro-Cuccinelli PAC gets $500,000 donation from New York hedge fund executive” by Ben Pershing in The Washington Post.

Ethics

Illinois: “Jesse Jackson Jr. to be sentenced in D.C.” by The Associated Press on ABC7 News.

New York: “Ethics panel survey launched” by Rick Karlin in the Albany Times Union.

New York: “Cuomo real estate donors among Moreland subpoena targets” by Jimmy Vielkind in the Albany Times Union.

Texas: “Biggest Ethics Reforms Died on Governor’s Desk” by Ross Ramsey and Todd Wiseman in the Texas Tribune.

Utah: “House looks to hire investigators for Swallow probe” by Robert Gehrke in The Salt Lake Tribune.

Virginia: “Governor has returned ‘tangible’ gifts, legal team says” by Olympia Meola in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

Elections

“E-Voting: It May Be a While” by Ed Smith in NCSL’s The Thicket.

Procurement

“Small Businesses Scrambling More for Federal Contracts” by Charles S. Clark in Government Executive.

Redistricting

Alabama: “Testimony concludes in lawsuit challenging legislative districts” by The Associated Press in The Birmingham News.

Alaska: “State Dem party sues over redistricting map” by The Associated Press in the Anchorage Daily News.

From the State Legislatures

Minnesota: “Dayton: No limits, no special session” by Baird Helgeson in the Star Tribune.

Gov. Mark Dayton has been talking about a special session for about two weeks and it seems like that thought is now close to becoming a reality. Going against what he has been saying for those two weeks, Governor Dayton said he was open to expanding the agenda of the special session. Until Thursday, Dayton has been maintaining the special session be limited to providing relief to those areas of the state hit hard by severe storms in June.

Republicans have been asking for a repeal of the warehouse tax and both parties have wanted to fix a tax on repairs to farming equipment. On Thursday, Dayton called the farm equipment tax “the biggest mistake” of this past year’s session and it needed to be addressed in a special session. He still has no plans to address the warehouse tax, which will not go into effect until April 2014.

Dayton has maintained the Legislature can deal with the issue when it comes back to St. Paul in February. The date for the special session has been tentatively set for September 9. However, Dayton wants assurances from the Republicans the session will be limited to one day.

Even though Democrats control both houses of the Legislature, they need Republican support to suspend rules and limit the session to just one day. Without that support, the session could last a few days and could feature debate on any topic.

Yesterday, the Texas Legislature adjourned its third special session sine die.

Governor Rick Perry had called the special session to consider legislation relating to the funding of transportation infrastructure projects. According to KVIA.com, the Legislature passed a constitutional amendment boosting transportation spending with money coming from oil and gas revenues diverted away from the state’s Rainy Day Fund. The amendment will be voted on next year by the state’s voters.

Lobbying

“Industries Cut Lobbying Expenditures – Again” by Russ Choma in Open Secrets Blog.

California: “Cupid’s work gets complicated as California lawmaker dates lobbyist” by Laurel Rosenhall in the Sacramento Bee.

Wisconsin: “Wisconsin lobbyists spend $15.6M in first half of 2013” by M.D. Kittle in the Wisconsin Reporter.

Campaign Finance

Alabama: “Alabama’s cap on corporate political donations ends today under changes to campaign finance law” by Mike Cason in Birmingham News.

Ethics

Florida: “Sarasota lawyer to lead Ethics Commission” by Lloyd Dunkelberger in the Herald-Tribune.

New Jersey: “Ex-Justice Wallace to head N.J. ethics panel” by Maddie Hanna in the Philadelphia Inquirer.

New York: “Speaker Silver appoints judge to NY ethics board; replaces veteran who resigned” by The Associated Press in The Republic.

From the State Legislatures

Kansas: “State Dems want voting law change in special session” by The Associated Press in the Topeka Capital-Journal.

New York: “Cuomo to decide on more than 100 bills” by Jessica Bakeman in the Democrat and Chronicle.

Government Tech and Social Media

“App Sends Traffic Complaints Straight to Congress” by Ryan Holeywell in Government Technology.

The Texas Legislature adjourned sine die yesterday on May 27.

However, the Legislature was immediately called into special session by Governor Rick Perry. The special session began in the evening, but cannot last longer than 30 days.

The initial call for the special session will focus on approving redistricting maps drawn for the 2012 election by federal judges, according to KRISTV.com. Other items are expected to be added to the special session’s agenda.

Photo of the Texas State Capitol by Kumar Appaiah on Wikipedia.

The Oklahoma Legislature adjourned sine die one week early on May 24. Adjourning a week early saved $140,000 in expenses for the Legislature, according to The Times Record News.

Governor Mary Fallin, who has pocket veto power, has until June 8 to sign or veto any bills presented to her.

The Alabama Legislature adjourned just before midnight on Monday, May 20, 2013, but not before passing major changes to the state’s Fair Campaign Practices Act.

The most significant change is the elimination of limits on corporate contributions to candidates and political action committees. Under the new law, corporations will be permitted to contribute in the same manner as individuals, who are not subject to any contribution limits, with the exception of retaining the state’s pay-to-play prohibition on contributions to the Public Service Commission by utilities the commission regulates. The bill also makes 527 organizations subject to the ban on PAC-to-PAC transfers and adds enforcement and penalty provisions.

The Secretary of State’s Office will release information regarding the effective date of these provisions since the law must first receive Department of Justice preclearance before it becomes enforceable.

The Legislature adjourned late Tuesday, May 14, 2013, after passing a $1.4 billion budget bill.

Other hallmark legislation of the session included decriminalization of small amounts of marijuana, assisted suicide, and driver’s licenses for migrant workers, but the legislature failed to pass a major campaign finance reform bill.

Supporters of campaign finance reform vowed to revisit the issue in January 2014.

Photo of Vermont State House by Decumanus on Wikipedia.

The Hawaii State Legislature bid aloha Thursday as it adjourned for the year. In total, the Legislature introduced 2,872 bills and passed 293 of them. Those 293 passed bills will now head to Governor Neil Abercrombie’s desk for his signature.

Among the most important bills passed, was a campaign finance bill aimed at increasing transparency in the campaigning process. House Bill 1147 was passed Thursday night and is now headed to Governor Abercrombie’s desk. Under the bill, non-candidate committees only making independent expenditures will be required to list the names of the top three contributors on all advertisements broadcasted, televised, circulated, or published, which includes posting on the Internet. Originally, the bill required the top five contributors to be disclosed, but it was amended to only include the top three.

Still, Hawaii lawmakers were very pleased with the passage of this particular bill. Representative Chris Lee, the author of the bill, said, “All the political ads they see on TV that are sponsored by these loose organizations with no real background – these folks will have to disclose who the funders actually are so that people can actually go to the ballot box informed about what they’re about to vote on.”

Senate President Donna Mercado Kim added, “We should have transparency that people are free to go ahead and have their First Amendment, if it’s by way of donation and contributing, but we should be able to know who’s doing it.”

Governor Abercrombie has 45 days, excluding weekends and holidays, to sign the bill and if he does, the bill will become effective on November 5, 2014.

The Washington State Legislature adjourned Sunday night, but state lawmakers are not done meeting this year. For the fourth consecutive year, the Legislature has been unable to complete the state budget and will have to go into special session.

The Legislature was statutorily mandated to adjourn on Sunday, but it is allowed a 30-day special session to come to an agreement on the budget. Governor Jay Inslee said budget negotiators will remain in Olympia to continue work on the budget, while all other legislators will report back on May 13 for the special session.

While in special session, the Legislature may take up other issues and Governor Inslee would like the lawmakers to handle issues involving abortion, gun control, and immigration. However, with the budget being the major issue, these secondary issues may not be discussed.

In regards to the budget, Governor Inslee said, “The parties are not miles apart at the moment, they are light-years apart.”

Photo of the Interior of the Legislative Building by Cacophony on Wikipedia.

The Montana Senate and the House both adjourned sine die on April 24, 2013, three days ahead of the Legislature’s scheduled adjournment date.

Governor Steve Bullock, who does not have a pocket veto, has 10 days upon delivery to sign, veto, or recommend amendments to bills.

The Legislature, which meets in regular session for 90 working days in every odd-numbered year, will have its next regular session in 2015.

Photo of the Montana State Capitol courtesy of Wikipedia.

Lawmakers will return to Jackson on Friday, April 26, for a special session.

The session will likely focus on economic incentives for an automobile manufacturer considering building a manufacturing plant in Clay County, but Governor Bryant would only say it relates to the state’s automobile corridor.

The state’s Medicaid reauthorization will be addressed in a separate special session.

The Legislature is meeting in an extended session to complete the state budget.

The extended session will end no later than April 19, 2013, according to the governor’s proclamation.

Only the budget bill and a provision for the cost of the extended session will be considered.

The General Assembly reconvened for a one-day session on April 3, 2013, to consider the governor’s vetoes and amendments.

Up for consideration were 80 bills for which Governor McDonnell offered amendments, including the state’s landmark transportation bill, and six vetoed bills.

The General Assembly accepted a number of the governor’s amendments to the transportation bill, including a reduction of fees on alternative-fuel vehicles and a reduction of lodging and vehicle-titling taxes.

Photo of the Virginia State Capitol by Anderskev on Wikipedia.