April 28, 2020

Status of State Legislative Sessions #2

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As of April 27, 23 states have postponed their legislative sessions. These states include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wisconsin. Many states that had originally postponed their sessions through early to mid-April have pushed back their reconvene date by at least two weeks to the end of April or beginning of May. We expect states to reexamine these dates. After several extensions of their reconvene date, Arizona and Connecticut have decided to end their legislative session early and plan to hold special sessions later in the year. Arkansas also ended its fiscal session nearly two weeks early after passing the FY 2021 budget. Some states legislatures, including Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Vermont, and Michigan (meeting as needed) are continuing to meet but with added social distancing precautions, or even remote voting. The other states have either adjourned sine die or are not in session.

Over the next two weeks we expect to get a better sense of when state legislatures will resume their legislative sessions. This is a rapidly changing environment, and we will update the status of the legislatures as necessary.

Current Status of State Legislative Sessions

status of state legislative sessions

Current Status of State Budgets

Status of State Budgets

State	Legislative Sessions
Alabama	Regular Session Dates: February 4, 2020 – May 18, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until April 28, 2020; Legislature has not yet passed a budget for FY 2021
Alaska	Regular Session Dates: January 21, 2020 – May 15, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Recessed until further notice; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget
Arizona	Regular Session Dates: January 13, 2020 – May 1, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Legislature plans to end session on May 1; Legislatures suspended session on March 23 after it passed the FY 2021 budget; Plans to hold special session
Arkansas	Regular Session Dates: April 8, 2020 – May 7, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Special session from March 26-28 on coronavirus funding; Reconvened on April 8, 2020, with social distancing measures, for 30 day fiscal session; Legislatures has passed FY 2021 budget and adjourned session nearly two weeks early on April 24, 2020
California	Regular Session Dates: December 3, 2019 – November 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until May 4, 2020 (originally planned to reconvene on April 13, 2020); Budget is expected to be revised in May
Colorado	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – May 6, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until May 18, 2020; Legislature must pass budget before July 1
Connecticut	Regular Session Dates: February 5, 2020 – May 6, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: After extending the reconvene date several times, the legislatures plans to cancel the remainder of the session; A special session is likely; CT operates under a two-year budget for FY2020-21
Delaware	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Postponed until further notice; Legislature has not passed FY2021 budget
Florida	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – March 13, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die March 19 (extended to adopt budget); May hold special session in FY 2020-21 to appropriate federal dollars from the CARES act, per a memo from Senate President Bill Galvano. Galvano also released a memo on the federal funds that FL will receive
Georgia	Regular Session Dates: January 13, 2020 – March 27, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice on March 13, after adopting amended FY 2020 budget; Held a special session on March 16 to ratify Governor’s public health emergency declaration; Legislature needs to adopt budget for FY 2021
Hawaii	Regular Session Dates: January 15, 2020 – May 1, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until further notice; Hawaii operates under a two-year budget for FY 2020-21, but may adopt supplemental budget to address impacts of coronavirus
Idaho	Regular Session Dates: January 5, 2020 – March 20, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 20, 2020 after adopting FY 2021 budget
Illinois	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – May 31, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: House adjourned until further notice; the Senate was expected to return April 28, but has further postponed their session; Legislature has not yet passed a FY 2021 budget
Indiana	Regular Session Dates: January 13, 2020 – March 12, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 11, 2020; Some lawmakers have called for special session; Not a budget year for Indiana and Gov. Holcomb said he will redirect $300 million in reserve funds for COVID-19
Iowa	Regular Session Dates: January 13, 2020 – May 20, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until April 30, 2020; Legislature passed supplemental appropriations for July and August 2020 at current levels, but does not go into effect if it can reconvene before the end of the fiscal year
Kansas	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – May 29, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Veto session, which was supposed to take place on April 27, has been postponed, Passed FY 2021 budget
Kentucky	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 – April 15, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on April 15; Legislature adopted FY 2021 budget; however, it did not adopt FY 2022 budget (KY normally operates on two year budget cycle); May hold special session
Louisiana	Regular Session Dates: May 9, 2020 – June 1, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice; Legislature has not passed FY 2021 budget
Maine	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – April 15, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 17; Maine operates under two-year budget for FY 2020-21, but passed a supplemental budget before adjourning
Maryland	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – April 6, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 18, 2020; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget
Massachusetts	Regular Session Dates: January 1, 2020 – July 31, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: In session using extra precautions; FY 2021 budget has not been introduced yet
Michigan	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 – December 31, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Meeting on as needed basis; Legislature has not yet adopted a budget
Minnesota	Regular Session Dates: January 11, 2020 – May 18, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until May 13; MN operates under two-year budget cycle for FY 2020-21
Mississippi	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 – May 10, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice; Legislature has not yet adopted a budget
Missouri	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – May 15, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Convened April 7 for technical session; Suspended until April 27, 2020; Legislature passed FY 2020 supplemental budget package, but has not passed FY 2021 budget
Montana	Regular Session Dates: Not in session in 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Interim committee meetings canceled; MT operates under two-year budget for FY 2020-21
Nebraska	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – April 23, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice; NE operates under two-year budget for FY2020-21
Nevada	Regular Session Dates: Not in session in 2020 Coronavirus Impact: March interim committee meetings canceled; NV operates on a two-year budget cycle for FY 2020-21; Legislative leaders have said they do not plan to hold a special session
New Hampshire	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until May 4; NH operates under a two-year budget cycle for FY2020-21
New Jersey	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – January 12, 2021 Coronavirus Impact: Legislature used remote voting on April 13; Legislature has not yet passed FY 2021 budget, but extended the end of fiscal year from June 30 to September 30
New Mexico	Regular Session Dates: January 21, 2020 – February 20, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die February 20, 2020; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget, but may hold special session to reconsider budget
New York	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – June 2, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice; New York’s fiscal year begins April 1; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget
North Carolina	Regular Session Dates: April 28, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: NC is currently not in session, but many pre-sessions meetings have been cancelled or held virtually; NC operates under a two-year budget cycle for FY2020-21
North Dakota	Regular Session Dates: Not in session in 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Committee meetings canceled; ND operates on a two-year budget cycle
Ohio	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 –December 31, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended until April 28, 2020; Ohio operates under a two-year budget cycle; Gov. Dewine has called for a 20% cut to the state budget
Oklahoma	Regular Session Dates: February 3, 2020 – May 29, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Special session convened on April 6, 2020 with many legislators voting by proxy; Regular session suspended in House until May 1, 2020; Senate is suspended until further notice; Legislature has not yet passed FY 2021 budget
Oregon	Regular Session Dates: February 3, 2020 – March 5, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 8, 2020; Oregon operates under a two-year budget cycle; Special session likely to consider coronavirus response package
Pennsylvania	Regular Session Dates: January 1, 2020 – November 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: House and Senate are voting remotely; Legislature has not yet passed a budget
Rhode Island	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 – June 30, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Suspended session through April 21, 2020; RI has not yet passed the FYI 2021 budget
South Carolina	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – May 14, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned until further notice; Legislature extended current funding levels in the event a budget is not adopted before July 1; Senate adopted resolution that will allow legislators to reconvene after adjournment date to address the budget and COVID-19-related issues
South Dakota	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – March 20, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 12, 2020 and held veto session electronically; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget, but plans to hold special session in June to readdress the budget impact of COVID-19
Tennessee	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – June 1, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Recessed until June 1; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget
Texas	Regular Session Dates: Not in session in 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Senate interim committees postponed; Texas operates under a two-year budget cycle
Utah	Regular Session Dates: January 27, 2020 – March 12, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 12; Held special session virtually on April 16 and 17 to reexamine the FY 2021 budget and address COVID-19
Vermont	Regular Session Dates: January 7, 2020 – May 8, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Legislatures is temporarily using remote voting during the state of emergency; Legislature has yet to pass FY 2021 budget
Virginia	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – March 12, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 12; Legislature passed budget; Held reconvene session on April 22 with social distancing measures; May hold special session to review budget
Washington	Regular Session Dates: January 12, 2020 – March 12, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 12, 2020; WA operates under a two-year budget cycle; Before adjourning, the legislature passed a supplemental package, but Gov. Inslee was forced to cut funding due to the impacts of the coronavirus
West Virginia	Regular Session Dates: January 8, 2020 – March 7, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 7, 2020; Legislature passed FY 2021 budget
Wisconsin	Regular Session Dates: January 14, 2020 – May 13, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Met virtually on April 14/15 in an extraordinary session; Suspended until further notice; WI operates under a two-year budget cycle
Wyoming	Regular Session Dates: February 10, 2020 – March 12, 2020 Coronavirus Impact: Adjourned sine die on March 12; Legislature passed FY 2021-22 budget

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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.