The Virginia General Assembly let a contribution limits bill expire in committee without so much as a hearing or a vote.

Business and labor groups have negotiated a system of contribution limits they hope to push through before lawmakers adjourn March 10. Critics say the proposal is weak.

Legislators say they want to pass campaign contribution limits this session, the editorial board writes. If so, any bill should provide true reforms – not cement in place advantages for their big donors.

The majority of Oregonians want campaign finance reform but apparently cannot agree on how to reform elections beyond campaign finance, according to new survey results from the Oregon Values and

Oregon is one of five states that doesn’t regulate the campaign finance money that comes pouring into state and local races.

Americans overwhelmingly support limits on political campaign spending, and most think new laws could effectively reduce the role of money in politics.

A political nonprofit long led by Oregon's powerful public employee unions wants to set campaign contribution limits in the state — and kill a competing 2024 ballot proposal by campaign finance reformers that would enact tighter limits and stricter ad disclosures.

PCUN joins a handful of other groups petitioning to clarify and limit campaign contributions.

Anheuser-Busch gave $49,250 to the Jobs Political Action Committee in Oregon on Tuesday.

Longtime political and education editor Betsy Hammond joins Therese Bottomly to talk about the recently completed legislative session.

Despite headlines over the past several months showing why campaign contribution limits are so critical, legislators have been unable to pass a bill with robust, fair caps, the editorial board writes. Legislators need to focus on such a bill for the February short session, or voters will have to do it for them.

This year’s 160-day Oregon legislative session featured a 42-day walkout by conservative senators, all Republican except our own Brian Boquist, a longtime Republican ...

This year’s 160-day Oregon legislative session featured a 42-day walkout by conservative senators, all Republican except our own Brian Boquist, a longtime Republican ...

House Speaker Dan Rayfield, D-Corvallis, convened a group of Democratic lawmakers this spring to hammer out limits on political spending. But Tony Lapiz, Rayfield’s legislative director, told a House committee June 8 that the legislators couldn’t agree on a proposal during that process.

“I just want to hear if we think we have enough money to cover what’s coming up.”

Legislation introduced by North Smithfield Republican Brian Newberry would raise the $1,000 annual individual contribution limit to $2,000.

Campaign finance databases reveal much about cultural values, political influence and interesting trends. We found that, and more, in a recent News-Register investigation ...

Oregon Democrats promised to reform the state’s campaign finance laws. But their fix tilts the playing field in their favor, says a Democratic lawmaker.

A last-minute bipartisan effort to update Alaska’s election laws does not include new campaign contribution limits, nor does it make changes to the state’s open primaries and ranked choice voting system.

With two months left in the legislative session, the issue of capping political contributions has received little attention and lawmakers are hedging on whether a proposal can pass.

New proposals introduced in the state Senate last week would set strict limits to quell the exorbitant spending in Oregon elections — without the same loopholes included in other bills introduced by top Democrats this session.

Top Democrats’ campaign finance proposals could protect the ability of membership organizations such as labor unions and business associations to continue pouring millions of dollars into candidates’ campaigns. They would also allow corporations and unions to continue giving directly to candidates.

After Oakland’s vote in November, proponents want democracy vouchers in other California cities.

Both Gov. Tina Kotek and state lawmakers have pledged to take action this legislative session on campaign finance reform.

Oregon Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is seeking more money to hire more staff dedicated to election security and oversight.

Voters may get the chance to decide whether an independent commission should redraw the state’s legislative and congressional districts after a proposed ballot measure cleared a significant hurdle.   People Not Politicians, the group seeking to end legislative control of redistricting, announced Monday that a deadline for legal challenges to the proposed initiative passed last week, clearing the way for supporters to begin collecting the roughly 150,000 signatures needed to put a measure before voters in November 2024.  The group is […]

Letter to the editor

Democratic state Sen. Jeff Golden of Ashland is among the Oregon Legislature’s most vocal proponents of campaign contribution limits. His fellow Democrats and their political allies independently spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on Golden's reelction.

Political spending on the Oregon governor's race nearly doubled from four years ago. The state is one of just five in the nation without campaign contribution limits.