Arizona held two. Arkansas is about to begin a three-day special session to raise sales taxes. Idaho and Louisiana are thinking about it. In 19 states, the governor alone can order a special session. Not that lawmakers are necessarily pleased when they come along.
Governors sometimes warn of a special session to force action on their pet proposals.
Some states strictly limit how long a special session can go on, and many also limit the issues up for debate. Florida lawmakers last went into a special session at the beginning of the year to give condemned inmates the option of lethal injection, in order to avoid a U.S. Supreme Court review of the state's use of the electric chair. The last time any legislature chose its presidential electors was in 1876, when the newly established Colorado didn't hold a popular election. Florida last did so in 1868, when direct elections were not so common. Walt Disney Internet Group, ABC inc.