Campaign Finance Reform - in Oregon

The Oregon Legislature took a big step this weekend toward allowing the state to curb the flow of unlimited money into political campaigns.

Voters in November 2020 will decide whether the Oregon Constitution should allow donation limits.

Oregon Legislature moves forward with a constitutional amendment to allow campaign contribution caps.

Companies and industries with interests in House Bill 2020 donated $650,000 to sitting Oregon senators.

As the Oregon Legislature prepares to resume, the fate of campaign finance reform in Portland, Multnomah and statewide may rest on whether a constitutional amendment is approved before the Legislature shuts down. Activists have urged Democratic leaders to deliver on months of discussions of changing the state Constitution to allow[Read More...]

Many of us are excited about the Oregon House of Representatives blocking billionaires from buying our elections and I want to thank most of our Lane County state representatives for their support …

Letter to the editor

Portland's election officer is still figuring out how to implement the charter changes requiring campaign finance disclosures for upcoming elections.

The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled in the past that any caps on campaign limits violates the Oregon constitution; a referral would amend the constitution.

SALEM — Bowing to the pressures of time and differences of opinion, Democrats are setting aside a legislative effort to slap limits on political campaign contributions. Senate Majority Leader Ginny Burdick, D-Portland, had hoped to get contribution limits through the Senate after they passed the House on June 6. Her[Read More...]

A Multnomah County Circuit Court judge upholds new campaign advertising disclosure rules.

SALEM — Bowing to the pressures of time and differences of opinion, Democrats are setting aside a legislative effort to slap limits on political campaign contributions.

House Bill 2714 would have set specific contribution limits, in anticipation of a constitutional measure making such restrictions legal. Although the bill is now dead, lawmakers appear to be pressing ahead with sending the constitutional change to voters.

The judge, Eric Bloch, said the voter-approved limits violate the Oregon Constitution.

SALEM, Ore. — Oregon is one of only five states to have absolutely no limits on how much money can be donated to political campaigns.

Former Independent Party gubernatorial nominee Patrick Starnes writes that the word "unlimited" does not belong in any bill about campaign finance reform. He urges Oregonians to contact state senators to add caps to HB 2714.

Oregon is one of only five states to have absolutely no limits on how much money can be donated to political campaigns. But lawmakers took a step to change that Thursday, when the House passed a measure approving the state's first campaign contribution limits in decades. The proposal caps contributions to House and Senate candidates at $1,000 and $1,500, respectively. Contributions to all other statewide candidates would be capped at $2,800.

The Oregon House passed a trio of campaign finance reform bills Thursday, including one bringing the state a step closer to limiting contributions.

The limits would give Oregon its first controls on campaign money in more than two decades.

Siltronic Corp. spent $2 million on water and $1.4 million on sewer services in the past fiscal year. Not coincidentally, the company has contributed $55,000 in campaign donations toward a ballot measure that would end the City Council's grasp over utility rates.

The Oregon law dealing with ethics itself raises ethical questions.

Oregon's lack of campaign finance restrictions means legislators can give as much money to each other's campaigns as they like. And they have.