On October 15, the North Carolina General Assembly adjourned a special session after passing the Hurricane Florence Emergency Response Act to establish a fund to provide relief and assistance from the effects of Hurricane Florence.

The Act also granted funds to the Bipartisan State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to educate the public about voting in the November 2018 election, specifically in counties designated under the disaster declaration by the president.

An October 16 ruling by the Wake County Superior Court found the legislative provisions creating the Bipartisan Board unconstitutional. The court, however, stayed the injunction concerning the activity of the Bipartisan Board until after the November election.

Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates have canceled a redistricting session scheduled for October 21.

Gov. Ralph Northam has previously stated his intentions to veto the current redistricting proposal, House Bill 7003, if the bill reaches his desk.

Without a legislative solution, the redistricting of House districts will be handled by a court appointed independent party.

This week, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper issued a call for a special session of the state’s legislature to address damage done by Hurricane Florence.

Gov. Cooper intends to call lawmakers back to work on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, to get state funding approved for recovery efforts.

An official proclamation for the special session has not yet been issued but it is expected in coming weeks.

This will be the third special session called to address hurricane damage in the state’s history.

The South Dakota Legislature held a one-day special session on September 12 addressing online sales tax measures.

The initial law to collect sales tax from online retailers was passed in 2016, but it was challenged and taken all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This special session was to set an effective date for the law to go into effect.

The Missouri Legislature adjourned on September 14 after finalizing two bills that were vetoed by Gov. Mike Parson in July.

The first bill expands the definition of treatment courts as a substitute for imprisonment, and the second creates an online-based STEM program for public schools.

The Legislature will convene for the 2019 session on January 9.

The Maine Legislature adjourned without day on September 13, 2018.

The special session, called to finish business from the regular session regarding Medicaid expansion and minimum wage increases, began on June 19.

During the final day, Gov. Paul LePage threatened to call the Legislature into another special session if they did not pass a bill aimed at protecting elderly Mainers from foreclosure.

In turn, legislators passed a version of the bill on Thursday evening.

Gov. Michael Parson has called a special session to begin on September 10, 2018.

The special session will focus on an education initiative and expanding treatment courts in Missouri.

The special session will run concurrently with the veto session, set to begin on September 12.

The North Carolina General Assembly was called into special session yesterday to begin today, August 24, in order rewrite ballot amendment language to shift appointment powers from the governor to the Legislature.

Speaker Tim Moore said legislators plan to make revisions “because the proposals provide a popular bipartisan balance in our state government that will benefit the people of North Carolina.”

This is the second special session this summer to address the ballot language.

Republican legislative leaders in North Carolina are considering coming back to Raleigh to rewrite two ballot questions because a court blocked them from being voted on in November.

Gov. Roy Cooper and the NAACP took issue with the ballot language, and the court ruled in their favor, agreeing the language was unclear.

Legislative leaders, among others in the case, have filed appeals motions.

Gov. Ralph Northam signed a proclamation calling Virginia lawmakers into a special session on August 30.

The purpose of the special session is to redraw districts of the House of Delegates.

A U.S. District Court ruled on June 26 that House of Delegates districts were racially gerrymandered to concentrate black voters.

The court ordered new boundaries to be drawn by October 30 for use in next year’s elections.

Gov. Dennis Daugaard has called a special session for September 12.

The session will address legislation allowing the state to enforce remote sellers to collect and remit sales tax.

In addition to calling the session, Daugaard will be appointing three people to fill vacancies in the Legislature to ensure the districts are fully represented during the special session.

The Legislature’s Tax Rate Review Committee decided no special session is needed to change the income and sales tax rates.

The committee noted the state’s revenue growth for the fiscal year that ended June 30 was higher than projected, but sales tax revenue is lower than projected forecasts.

The committee is looking into the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that allows states to collect sales taxes from online purchases and to determine if legislation is required.

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The Utah State Legislature adjourned sine die its special session on Wednesday, July 18.

Nine bills were passed, most notably a compromise between the Legislature and Salt Lake City Council on the controversial Utah Inland Port Authority project.

Senate Bill 2001 also passed, which requires businesses to collect online sales tax revenue for the state.

However, most of the expected revenue was earmarked earlier this year for tax breaks for manufacturers in anticipation of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on online sales tax collection.