The Washington Legislature adjourned its first special session on Thursday, May 28, 2015, only to immediately convene a second special session on Friday, May 29, 2015.

Gov. Jay Inslee called the second special session as a result of lawmakers’ inability to agree on a budget during the first special session.

Lawmakers must come to a budgetary agreement by July 1, 2015, or the state government could face a shutdown.

Photo of the Washington State Senate chamber by Lincolnite on Wikimedia Commons.

The Florida Senate adjourned sine die on May 1, 2015, three days after the House abruptly ended its session early citing an impasse with the Senate over budget issues.

Senate democrats, believing the move was in violation of the state constitution, filed a lawsuit with the state supreme court seeking a writ of mandamus to order the House back into session. While the court agreed the early adjournment was a clear violation, all seven justices concurred there was no plausible way to order the House back with so little time left in the session.

Nonetheless, democratic leaders lauded the ruling as important guidance for the future.

The Senate has voted down a bill to overhaul ethics laws. Senate Bill 1 failed by a 19 to 24 vote on Wednesday, February 11.

The main issue Senators could not agree on was whether lawmakers should be involved in the process of investigating themselves. The majority of senators believed an independent panel to investigate senators’ conduct solves a problem that does not exist.

The Senate still has a chance to consider a similar version of the bill passed unanimously by the House.

Prompted by Secretary of State Kate Brown, a bill in the Oregon Senate would impose campaign contribution limits in a state where contributions are currently unlimited.

Senate Bill 75, now in committee, sets the individual and entity contribution limit at $2,600 per calendar year and the political committee limit at $5,000 per calendar year. These limits are aggregate limits, so total yearly contributions to any state, county, or city candidate or committee cannot exceed the stated limit.

The bill is an amendment to the state constitution, so it would have to be approved by voters before becoming law.

Photo of Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown by Josh.Goldberg on Wikimedia Commons.

With the Senate passing the House’s omnibus bill, the limits for political contributions to federal political parties will increase when President Barack Obama signs the bill. Included as a rider with House Resolution 83 is an amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 allowing additional contributions to political parties for presidential nominating conventions, for preparation for and the conduct of election recounts and contests and other legal proceedings, and for the construction, purchase, renovation, operation, and furnishing of one or more buildings for party headquarters.

An additional provision of the bill prohibits the federal government from recommending or requiring any entity submitting an offer for a federal contract to disclose, as a condition of submitting an offer, any political contribution, expenditure, independent expenditure, or disbursement for an electioneering communication by the offeror, its officers or directors, or any of its affiliates or subsidiaries.

Another provision included in the bill prohibits the federal government from paying for a portrait of an officer or employee of the federal government, including the president, the vice president, a member of Congress (including a delegate or a resident commissioner to Congress), the head of an executive branch agency, or the head of an office of the legislative branch.

The president has said he will sign the bill.

UDPATE: On December 16, President Obama signed the House Resolution 83 into law.

Photo of the U.S. Capitol by Martin Falbisoner on Wikimedia Commons.

The Hawaii State Senate convened a special session on Wednesday, October 22, to consider judicial appointments to the Circuit Court of the First Circuit and to the District Court of the Third Circuit.

Private attorney Jeffrey Crabtree and Family Court Judge Christine Kuriyama were both confirmed for 10-year appointments on the Circuit Court. Margaret Masunaga, a former deputy attorney general and private attorney, was confirmed for a six-year County District Court term.

Following the confirmations the Senate adjourned sine die on Thursday, October 23.

On July 22, 2014, Gov. Jack Markell signed several bills amending Delaware’s campaign finance and lobbying laws. Senate Bill 187 allows political committees to donate prohibited contributions to certain charitable organizations. House Bill 300 protects whistleblowers from employer retaliation for reporting campaign finance violations or participating in the investigation of such violations.

Both Senate Bill 187 and House Bill 300 became effective upon the governor’s signature. House Bill 301 requires contributions given from a joint account, whether by check, debit card, or credit card, to be attributed to the signator of the contribution. Senate Bill 186 requires entities making contributions of more than $100 to disclose the name and address of one responsible party. A responsible party, as defined by the bill, is an individual who exercises control over the entity.

House Bill 301 and Senate Bill 186 are effective January 1, 2015. Also effective January 1, 2015, is House Bill 306, which imposes late filing fees on lobbyists who file late reports. A fee of $25 will be assessed for the first day and $10 for each subsequent day a lobbyist report is delinquent. The maximum late fee allowable is $100. The Public Integrity Commission may waive such late filing fees if it determines circumstances make imposition of the fee inappropriate.

Of the newly minted legislation, Gov. Markell said, “We must always look to improve our laws to strengthen the public’s confidence in the political process.”

Photo of Governor Jack Markell by John D. (Jay) Rockefeller IV on Wikimedia Commons.

In a tight race Tuesday, Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran secured the GOP Senate nomination with 50.8 percent of the vote. Cochran battled tea party candidate Chris McDaniel in a federal runoff after neither candidate carried enough votes in the June 3 primary to capture the nomination.

Although McDaniel’s campaign has not made a decision whether to challenge the results, Cochran’s win ends a somewhat bizarre and expensive political battle between the two candidates.

In November, Cochran will face Democrat Travis Childers; if elected, Cochran will serve a seventh consecutive Senate term.

The Senate has passed resolutions to tighten ethics laws by creating a new position of ethics ombudsman, installing protections for whistleblowers, and banning the raising of campaign funds during August, the last month of the legislative year. A bill to extend the fundraising blackout period to the Assembly fell four votes short of the two-thirds needed for approval.

The Senate also approved an amended bill to regulate travel gifts and the use of campaign funds. Senate Bill 831 initially would have barred acceptance of gifts of travel worth more than $8,000, but was amended to only require nonprofit groups paying for legislators’ travel to disclose donor information.

The Assembly is now considering a bill passed by the Senate to further restrict gifts to lawmakers. Senate Bill 1443 prohibits all gifts from lobbyists and reduces the value of gifts state officials can receive from a non-lobbyist source to $200 per calendar year. Currently, lobbyists may provide gifts of $10 per calendar month and officials can receive $440 from a non-lobbyist source per calendar year.

The bill also prohibits most recreational tickets to concerts, professional sporting events, and amusement parks.

Photo of the California Senate chamber by David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

State senators are receiving a refresher in ethics and bills to require tougher ethics rules are advancing following a series of legal cases involving Democratic lawmakers.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg canceled committee hearings Wednesday, April 23 and ordered senators and their top aides to devote the day to ethics training.

The ethics proposals approved by a committee include a ban on fundraising during the end of legislative sessions, a reduction in the value of gifts officials may accept, and a prohibition on such items as spa treatments and golf games.

Photo of the California Senate chamber courtesy of David Monniaux on Wikimedia Commons.

Senate Bill 5988, introduced January 13, 2014, would prohibit state officials from soliciting or accepting political contributions in odd-numbered years when the legislature is out of session but has not adopted or submitted to the governor a biennial operating appropriations act.

The bill would further prohibit the governor or any person employed by the governor from soliciting or accepting contributions during the period provided for the consideration of bills under the Washington constitution.

Photo of the Washington State Senate Chamber courtesy of Lincolnite on Wikimedia Commons.

Governor Jay Inslee has signed a bill into law increasing disclosure in political advertising. Senate Bill 5258 was passed by the Washington State Legislature and delivered to the governor on April 23.

The bill requires a series of political advertisements supporting or opposing ballot measures sponsored by the same political committee, each of which is under $1,000, to include information on the advertisement’s top five contributors once the cumulative value of the advertisements reaches $1,000. Under the current law, information on the top five contributors is only required for individual advertisements in excess of $1,000.

This law will take effect on July 28, 2013, but with the first state elections not due to take place until 2014, we will probably not see how big of an impact this new disclosure requirement will have.

Governor McDonnell announced a special election will be held for Senate District 14 on August 6, 2013. It will fill the seat held by Harry Blevins, who plans to retire for unspecified health reasons on August 5.

Delegate John Cosgrove, who succeeded Senator Blevins in the House of Delegates, has already announced his candidacy for the seat.