Gov. Steve Sisolak officially called for the Nevada Legislature to convene in a special session on July 8 to address the state’s fiscal year 2021 budget crisis.

At a later date, the governor’s office will issue the formal proclamation to convene the special session.

Gov. Sisolak and legislative leadership are working to assess potential additional items to be included in any special session proclamation.

These additions will be including policy proposals related to criminal and social justice reform.

Furthermore, the governor acknowledged the start date could change based on public health conditions.

The public will be able to watch the floor sessions and committee meetings via the Legislature’s livestreams.

Finally, those who wish to participate will be able to teleconference or submit written comments.

This does affect ALERTS reporting.

A lobbyist activity report will be due between the first and tenth of the month after each month the Legislature in in a special session.

Oregon’s Legislative Assembly adjourned the first special session of 2020.

During the session lawmakers passed a slew of bills dealing with police accountability and the coronavirus pandemic.

Lawmakers passed 24 bills with more than 600 pieces of public testimony submitted and over 100 virtual testimonies during the three day special session.

At least one other special session may be called this year in order to focus on the state budget.

Louisiana lawmakers have until final adjournment at 6 p.m. on June 30 to pass the government spending plan for the fiscal year that begins on July 1.

In the special session premised in large part on COVID-19 relief, lawmakers gave final legislative approval June 29 to send $250 hazard pay checks to up to 200,000 frontline workers.

Qualifying jobs include health workers, emergency, fire and law enforcement personnel, bus drivers, garbage workers, and grocery store and convenience store workers.

Additionally, negotiations on the state budget continue into the final day of the special session.

In a 3-2 decision on June 16, the New Mexico Supreme Court denied a request allowing lobbyists and public into the Capitol, known as the Roundhouse, during the special legislative session beginning June 18.

Chief Justice Judith Nakamura described the decision as a difficult ruling to make. However, Nakamura concurred with Justices Barbara Vigil and Michael Vigil in denying the petition. 24 lawmakers submitted this proposal which would have opened the Roundhouse to lobbyists and the public for the special session.

The petition argued that prohibiting lobbyists from entering the Roundhouse violates the constitutional requirement to make all legislative sessions public.

New Mexico’s constitution provides all sessions of each house must be public. Justices challenged attorneys on both sides to define the term “public” and explain in detail what constitutes a public session.

Justice C. Shannon Bacon expressed concern about large parts of the state not having broadband. She also emphasized that thousands of people do not have access to computers, describing New Mexico as a technological desert.

The Supreme Court concluded virtual proceedings balance the need to protect the public from the public health concerns of COVID-19 with the need to ensure the legislative session remains open and transparent.

The ruling means those who wish to follow the session will watch the hearings from their computer screens. This will be current reality, rather than gathering in committee rooms and House and Senate galleries.

The public will be able to speak at the discretion of the House committee chairs via Zoom video conference call. However, the public will only be allowed to send emails, rather than joining a video conference, to address the Senate’s committee.

Beginning June 18, lawmakers will begin debating how to shore up an estimated $2 billion shortfall in projected revenues for the fiscal year 2021 budget. This shortfall is largely due to the pandemic-related government shutdown.

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is targeting a special session from June 18 to June 19 to adjust next fiscal year’s budget in response to COVID-19.

A plan is underway to allow lawmakers the option of attending virtually.

The day prior to the special session, legislators will get new revenue estimates during a meeting of the Executive Appropriations Committee.

It is not known how the budget numbers will look, but they will be drastically different from the more than $900 million in excess revenue lawmakers used to set this year’s fiscal budget.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

Gov. Tim Walz called a special session which will begin June 12.

The primary purpose of the session will be to extend the COVID-19 peacetime emergency by 30 days, making sure the state can quickly respond to the pandemic.

The House and Senate adjourned sine die on May 18, marking the end of the 2020 legislative session.

However, unfinished business and recent protests have added to the agenda.

Walz is obligated by law to call a special session for the Legislature to approve the emergency declaration.

Although, the length of the session will be determined by the Legislature.

Louisiana lawmakers called themselves into a 30-day special session that began on June 2, immediately following the adjournment of the regular session.

The special session agenda focuses on piecing together a more than $30 billion operating budget for the financial year that begins on July 1.

The session will also center on tax credit considerations, exemptions, and suspensions for businesses that were forced to reduce operations since March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kansas lawmakers are returning for a special legislative session June 3 after Gov. Laura Kelly vetoed COVID-19 legislation passed during the final day of session.

Gov. Kelly called lawmakers back to create a new bill that redefines her emergency powers.

The previous bill sought to curb Gov. Laura Kelly’s emergency powers and give the Legislative Coordinating Council appropriation power over the $1.25 billion in federal money allocated to Kansas in the CARES Act.

Gov. Kelly would also have been barred from issuing a new COVID-19 disaster declaration unless at least six members of the State Finance Council sign off on it.

There is no time limit on the special session, so the work is expected continue for as long as necessary.

This does not affect lobbyist reporting.

New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham targeted June 18 for the start of a special legislative session.

The session will be held to adjust the state budget amid a major hit to expected revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, Governor Grisham hopes to reach bipartisan agreement on financial measures.

As of now, the state is on track to re-open thousands of more businesses and services on June 1.

The legislative session is expected to span several days.

The Illinois House of Representatives reconvened for a special session on May 20 in the Bank of Springfield Center to accommodate social distancing due to COVID-19 concerns.

Members were spread across the center’s makeshift House floor, sat at folding chairs and desks with a free-standing microphone beside each lawmaker’s workstation.

Both House Republicans and Democrats went into caucus at the Bank of Springfield center shortly after they convened the special session.

The Republicans moved to another space within the convention center, and Democrats remaining on the floor.

The Senate reconvened on May 18 at the Capitol.

Gov. Mark Gordon called a special session of the Wyoming Legislature to help respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The two day special session will start at 8:00 a.m. on May 15.

Lawmakers will gather both online and in the state Capitol, which will be open to those legislators who wish to go there, to distribute federal stimulus money to Wyoming businesses, healthcare facilities and workers.

Through four draft bills, lawmakers will determine how to distribute $500 million of the $1.25 billion the state received through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed in March.

In addition, lawmakers are eyeing new programs to provide loans to businesses, recompense landlords for lost rent to halt evictions, and help fund healthcare facilities and other needs.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson will call a special session of the Arkansas Legislature on Thursday, March 26.

The session will fill budget holes caused by the economic fallout from COVID-19.

Gov. Hutchinson announced the special session would grant him the authority to use the state’s $173 million unallocated budget surplus.

He plans to fill budget needs after his administration cut the state’s general revenue by $353 million to $5.38 billion.

The governor made the budget cuts in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2019.

The special session triggers a lobbyist activity report (monthly) due April 10 for the reporting period of March 1 through March 31.

The special session is expected to span three calendar days.

The House of Representatives will meet at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Jack Stephens Center rather than the Capitol to limit close contact of legislators.

Nebraska lawmakers are likely to return to the Capitol on March 23 to approve emergency aid for state agencies that are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer indicated he expects to decide whether to temporarily resume the session.

The speaker held a legislative briefing with the Governor’s Office in the afternoon on March 20.

If lawmakers convene on March 23, they would also need to check in on March 24 and March 25 to fulfill the procedural requirements to approve the funding.

The emergency funding would be the only item on the legislative agenda.

Once it is approved, lawmakers would suspend the session again until further notice.

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham indicated she is likely to call legislators to a special session in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

If called, the session would focus on revising a recently signed state budget, addressing public health needs, and providing economic relief.

In a letter to legislators, Gov. Grisham said emergency federal aid needs to be established before state budget revisions can take place.