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.

Del. Greg Habeeb announced his resignation from the House of Delegates 8th District. Habeeb has served in the House since winning the seat in a special election in January 2011.

Habeeb cited the desire to spend more time with family and increased responsibilities at his law firm as reasons for stepping down.

Speaker of the House Kirk Cox will review dates and announce a special election to fill the seat in the near future.

Del. Habeeb’s final day as a member of the House of Delegates will be August 31.

Gov. Ralph Northam called for a special session of the Legislature this week to finish work on the state’s budget.

The session will convene April 11, just one month after the adjournment of the regular session.

Lawmakers voted unanimously last week to request the special session.

Lawmakers must pass the two-year budget by June 30 in order to avoid a government shut down on July 1.

Virginia’s General Assembly adjourned its 2018 regular legislative session Saturday, March 10.

During the 60-day session, legislators were unable to pass a state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1.

Gov. Ralph Northam promised to call a special session in the next two to three weeks to reconsider the state’s spending plans.

The budget impasse came over Medicaid expansion, and was not a disagreement between parties, but rather between the House and the Senate.

If a budget is not passed by July 1, the state will face a government shutdown.

The Virginia House Committee on Rules unanimously reported House Bill 263 without recommendation to the House floor on Friday.

The bill establishes the Virginia Democracy Voucher Program, which sends every registered voter in Virginia $100 in Democracy Vouchers that may be accepted by candidates for state offices in lieu of campaign contributions every year.

Virginia has more than 5.5 million registered voters, meaning the program as designed would cost more than half a billion dollars per year.

A countywide special election will take place on August 29, 2017, to fill a vacant at-large school board seat.

School board member Jeanette Hough resigned the seat in May. The winner will serve the remainder of Hough’s term, ending December 31, 2019.

School board members are non-partisan officeholders; however, Democrats and Republicans issue endorsements to make their preferences known.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe approved changes to Virginia’s gift rules this week, marking the fourth consecutive year lawmakers have adjusted ethics provisions. Among other changes, House Bill 1854, and identical Senate Bill 1312, requires lobbyists to send legislators and executive officials a summary of gifts provided from January 1 through adjournment sine die of the regular session of the General Assembly. The summary must be provided within three weeks of adjournment and does not include the reconvened session.

The bill also eliminates the “common interest” exception to the $100 gift limit on lobbyists for widely attended events. This exception was used to justify luxury suite tickets to football games. An exception is added, however, for attendance at a reception where hors d’oeuvres and beverages are provided and can be consumed while standing or walking.

These changes are effective July 1, 2017, except the gift notification requirement is effective immediately.

The Virginia General Assembly adjourned the 2017 regular session sine die on Saturday, February 25.

A major focus of the short session was the commonwealth’s biennial budget and several bills supporting second amendment rights received strong support from both sides of the aisle.

A reconvened session is scheduled for April 5, 2017, for lawmakers to consider bills and recommendations returned to them by the governor.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced he will send the General Assembly a package of proposals aimed at campaign finance and voter law reforms.

The campaign finance proposal will seek to ban the personal use of campaign funds and he would like to see the new voter photo identification law repealed.

Another proposal would expand absentee voting, permitting any registered voter in Virginia to vote absentee in-person starting 21 days before the election. The General Assembly convenes today to begin the 2017 session.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe has set a special election date to replace members of the General Assembly who were elected to Congress. The election will be held on Jan. 10, 2017.

Sen. Tom Garrett, District 22; Sen. A. Donald McEachin, District 9; and Delegate Scott Taylor, District 85, each won seats in Congress.

Candidates have until Dec. 5 to register to be on the ballot.

Two special elections will take place on the same day as the general election, November 8, 2016, to fill vacancies due to resignations.

Del. Monty Mason resigned his House District 93 seat to run to replace the late Sen. John Miller in the First Senate District.

Del. Lionell Spruill also resigned to run for state Senate. Spruill left his House District 77 seat to run for Senate District 5, vacated by the now mayor of Norfolk, Kenny Alexander.

Both resignations are effective November 21, and the winners of the special elections will be sworn in on November 22.

The Virginia Conflict of Interest and Ethics Advisory Council has a new executive director.

The General Assembly has appointed Stewart Petoe, an attorney from the state’s crime commission, to fill the position left vacant since May. Chris Piper, Petoe’s successor, left after Republican leadership stated they would not confirm Piper because he is not an attorney.

The Council issues advisory opinions and informal guidance on ethics issues and is in charge of collecting financial disclosures from public officials and lobbyists.

This week the U.S. Supreme Court vacated the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell, who was convicted on ethics charges in 2014.

The Court unanimously ruled the interpretation of bribery law was overly broad and making phone calls and setting up meetings did not constitute official action. McDonnell was accused of accepting more than $175,000 in gifts from a Virginia businessman wanting to do business with the commonwealth.

Some legal experts think this ruling will make it more difficult to prosecute corruption cases in the future, while others believe it fits with past rulings where courts required more than just the appearance of impropriety.

Photo of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell by Gage Skidmore on Wikimedia Commons.

A special election will be held on November 8 to fill a vacancy in the state Senate.

Sen. Kenny Alexander left the seat after being elected mayor of Norfolk on May 3. Alexander’s election, however, occurred too late to hold a primary for his replacement on the regular June 14 date. The governor, therefore, has given parties until July 15 to name their candidates.

Democrats will hold an unassembled caucus in Chesapeake and Norfolk on July 9, while it is unclear if Republicans will nominate a candidate. Del. Joe Lindsey and Del. Lionell Spruill Sr. are running to replace Alexander.