Governor Mark Dayton and legislative leaders have agreed to a special session in September.

The one-day session, scheduled for September 9, 2013, will address financial relief for damages caused by June storms.

Campaign finance

“Uneven Political Contributions by Publicly Traded Companies” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“Complaint Filed Over Campaign Directing $1M Donation to Super PAC” by Kent Cooper in Roll Call.

“Campaign finance watchdogs file complaint against Santorum” by Alexandra Jaffe in The Hill.

From the State Legislatures

From NCSL: “Former President Jimmy Carter Captivates State Legislators” in NCSL’s The Thicket.

“State legislators promise voting rights push” by Bill Barrow (Associated Press) in the Athens Banner-Herald.

Florida: “Fla. legislators vote down special session” by The Associated Press in the Miami Herald.

Government Tech and Social Media

“Twitter Can’t Yet Predict Elections” by Stuart Rothenberg in Roll Call.

and for the contrary view…

“A New Study Says Twitter Can Predict US Elections” by Robinson Meyer in The Atlantic.

Redistricting

Florida: “Former legislative leaders Pruitt, McKay and Thompson weigh into redistricting fight” by Aaron Deslatte in the Orlando Sentinel.

Governor Mary Fallin issued an executive order calling for legislators to return to the capitol for a special session to begin September 3, 2013.

The order specifies the special session will deal only with the issue of how lawsuits are filed, which became a problem after the Oklahoma Supreme Court invalidated a law on that topic.

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.

Campaign Finance

“Sandra Day O’Connor Tells NCSL Legislative Summit Money Poses Biggest Risk to Fair Courts” by Mary Winter on NCSL’s The Thicket.

Connecticut: “Donovan campaign aide asks for probation” by Michael P. Mayko in the Connecticut Post.

Delaware: “AG Biden won’t investigate donation of improper campaign contributions” by Jonathan Starkey in The News Journal.

District of Columbia: “Ex-Campaign Aide to D.C. Mayor Gray to Plead Guilty” by The Associated Press on WNEW CBS News.

District of Columbia: “Thies: Are Shadow Campaigns Stealing D.C. Elections?” by Churck Thies on NBC4 Washington News.

New York: “100 years ago, a NY governor was impeached” by Joseph Spector in the Star-Gazette.

Ethics

“FEC signs off on Progress Kentucky closing” by Byron Tau on Politico.

From the State Legislatures

“The coming war over voting rights” by Tal Kopan in Politico.

Oklahoma: “Governor orders special legislative session” in Tulsa World.

Procurement

“A New App Takes Government Contracting Mobile” by Joseph Marks in NextGov.

Redistricting

Arizona: “2020 Redistricting? The Arizona GOP Is ON IT” by Abby Livingston in Roll Call.

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.

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.

A special session of the Legislature may convene at the end of April. Lawmakers have said they were told to report back on April 29, but a spokesperson for Governor Bryant would not confirm a special session or date.

It’s expected the session, if called, will involve economic incentives for an automotive supplier. It’s not clear if the Legislature will tackle Medicaid reauthorization in the same session, though lawmakers speculate a separate special session will be held.

Campaign Finance

“DOJ, IRS tight-lipped on campaign finance probes” by Tarini Parti and Byron Tau in Politico.

Arizona: “Ariz. proposal would flood money into politics” by The Associated Press in the Arizona Daily Sun.

Ethics

Arkansas: “House approves proposed amendment on ethics, term limits, salaries” by John Lyon in the Arkansas News Bureau.

New York: “Cuomo Offers Plan to Fight Corruption After Arrests” by Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

New York: “Albany Riveted by Double Life of an Assemblyman and Informer” by Thomas Kaplan in The New York Times.

Virginia: “New documents raise more questions about financing of McDonnell’s daughter’s wedding” by Rosalind S. Helderman in The Washington Post.

Virginia: “McEachin calls for closing Virginia gift loophole” by Laura Vozella in The Washington Post.

Elections

Illinois: “Ex-Ill. lawmaker elected to succeed Jackson Jr.” by The Associated Press in the Quad City Times.

From the State Legislatures

Missouri: “Term limit change suggested for Missouri lawmakers” by Virginia Young in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Washington: “The next question: Special session?” by Lucas Wiseman in The Columbian.

The North Carolina General Assembly will have a one-day special session January 9, 2013, before convening the regular session on January 30, 2013. This one-day special session is for both houses to elect officers, adopt rules and organize the upcoming session.

This is the first time the general assembly has decided to hold this one-day special organization session, but both parties have expressed interest in continuing the idea in the future.

Photo of the North Carolina State Legislative Building by Jayron32 on Wikipedia.

The General Assembly held a one-day special session December 19, 2012, to approve budget cuts to close the state’s budget deficit.

The session also included a one-hour memorial for the Newtown shooting victims.

Photo of the Connecticut State Capitol courtesy of Ragesoss on Wikipedia.