In the Oregon Legislature
2022
Senate Rules Committee Hearings on Campaign Finance Reform
|
February 10, 2022
January 13, 2022 |
2019
"Campaign Finance Reform"
at the Oregon Legislature
"Campaign Finance Reform"
at the Oregon Legislature
We are at a crucial point for campaign finance reform in Oregon. Largely because of our 87-89% "yes" vote wins on our Multnomah County and Portland campaign finance reform ballot measures in 2016 and 2018, the Oregon Legislature is finally considering statewide reform. But the bills now making their way through the legislative process are more about repealing reform than achieving it. These bills would expressly repeal Measure 47 of 2006, which Oregon voters approved and which contains actual strict limits on campaign contributions and independent expenditures, including the requirement that political ads identify their major funders ("taglines"). None of the current bills at the Oregon Legislature would accomplish either purpose.
So the bills at the Legislature should not be supported, unless they establish real and effective reform. But they have many loopholes that would enable big money to continue to flow into candidate and "independent expenditure" campaigns.
For example, HB 2714 (as approved by the House of Representatives on a 35-23 vote on June 6) would allow the creation of 4 "Caucus Committees" run by the incumbents in the Oregon Legislature. Each such committee could accept unlimited funds from all political party committees, all Oregon candidate committees (many hundreds of them on the state and local levels), and even all federal candidate committees, including candidates for Congress in other states or for President. The Caucus Committees can then make unlimited contributions to candidates. This will enable wealthy donors to funnel effectively unlimited sums to help their favored candidates.
HB 2714 has other serious defects. See our Summary of What is Going on in the Oregon Legislature about campaign finance reform.
Measure 47 also requires that political ads identify their actual major funders, their major donors, the businesses they are engaged in, and how money each is spending on the ads. HB 2716 was supposed to do that, but it does does not. It allows candidate advertisements with no disclosure of the funding sources. It allows "independent expenditure" advertisements that identify only the nice-sounding names of the political committees or nonprofit corporations that paid for the ads, such as the "Good Things for Oregon Committee" or the "Make Oregon Great Non-profit Corporation" or any other nice-sounding name you can think of.
Both for limits on contributions and required taglines, all the Oregon Legislature needs to do is adopt on a statewide basis the same provisions that 88% of the voters in Portland and Multnomah County adopted in 2016 and 2018. But they are not doing that.
Please tell your legislators to get these bills fixed and vote for real campaign finance reform! You can Find Your Legislators Here.
For example, HB 2714 (as approved by the House of Representatives on a 35-23 vote on June 6) would allow the creation of 4 "Caucus Committees" run by the incumbents in the Oregon Legislature. Each such committee could accept unlimited funds from all political party committees, all Oregon candidate committees (many hundreds of them on the state and local levels), and even all federal candidate committees, including candidates for Congress in other states or for President. The Caucus Committees can then make unlimited contributions to candidates. This will enable wealthy donors to funnel effectively unlimited sums to help their favored candidates.
HB 2714 has other serious defects. See our Summary of What is Going on in the Oregon Legislature about campaign finance reform.
Measure 47 also requires that political ads identify their actual major funders, their major donors, the businesses they are engaged in, and how money each is spending on the ads. HB 2716 was supposed to do that, but it does does not. It allows candidate advertisements with no disclosure of the funding sources. It allows "independent expenditure" advertisements that identify only the nice-sounding names of the political committees or nonprofit corporations that paid for the ads, such as the "Good Things for Oregon Committee" or the "Make Oregon Great Non-profit Corporation" or any other nice-sounding name you can think of.
Both for limits on contributions and required taglines, all the Oregon Legislature needs to do is adopt on a statewide basis the same provisions that 88% of the voters in Portland and Multnomah County adopted in 2016 and 2018. But they are not doing that.
Please tell your legislators to get these bills fixed and vote for real campaign finance reform! You can Find Your Legislators Here.
Oregon Public Broadcasting on May 31, 2019