A special election for Massachusetts House of Representatives 19^th Suffolk District is scheduled for March 30, with a primary election to be held on March 2.

The seat became vacant after House Speaker Robert DeLeo resigned December 29, 2020.

A special election will be called for the 1st Berkshire State Representative Seat to replace Rep. Gailanne Cariddi.

Rep. Cariddi, who was in her fourth term, died over the weekend.

Massachusetts House Speaker Robert DeLeo is responsible for setting the date for the special election but no date has been set yet.

On October 18, the Massachusetts House of Representatives will consider whether to create a temporary committee to review the state’s ethics laws.

The panel, called the Task Force on Integrity in State and Local Government, is being promoted by House Speaker Robert DeLeo. Its purpose would be to review laws concerning lobbying, campaign finance, and ethics.

If approved, the task force will file a report with the governor, the president of the Senate, and the speaker of the House regarding the results of its investigation and study by December 23, 2016.

Lobbying

California: “Carl Kemp, Long Beach Lobbyist and Former Council Candidate, Charged with Failing to File Taxes” by Greg Yee for Long Beach Press Telegram

Campaign Finance

Massachusetts: “House Sidelines Campaign Finance Bill” by Frank Phillips for Boston Globe

Tennessee: “Ethics Bureau: Sumner Sentinel not a PAC” by Dessislava Yankova for The Tennessean

Ethics

“Navy Admiral Pleads Guilty in ‘Fat Leonard’ Corruption Scandal” by Craig Whitlock for Washington Post

Connecticut: “House Speaker: Wade Should Not Preside Over Cigna-Anthem Merger” by Mara Lee for Hartford Courant

Indiana: “Former Top BMV Official Fined $500 for Ethics Violation” by Tony Cook for Indianapolis Star

Elections

“Historic Import of Hillary Clinton’s Victory Is One More Source of Division” by Patrick Healy and Sheryl Gay Stolberg for New York Times

“There Are More White Voters Than People Think. That’s Good News for Trump.” by Nate Cohn for New York Times

Massachusetts state Sen. Michael Brady has introduced legislation proposing state municipalities require lobbyist registration and reporting. If passed, municipalities would be allowed to opt into the law’s requirements after approval by vote of the local governing body. According to Brady, as reported in the Patriot Ledger, the legislation is modeled after the state lobbying law and creates new categories for governing municipal agents and municipal lobbying. Registration, costing $100 a year, would be required for compensation for lobbying of over $2,500 per year. Municipal clerks would administer registration and reporting requirements, with enforcement handled by the Office of the Secretary of State.

Meanwhile, on February 29, House Speaker Robert DeLeo announced a plan to create a task force to review the state’s ethics laws, according the Sentinel & Enterprise. DeLeo would like any task force recommendations to be considered during this year’s legislative session.