Sponsored by: Submitted by Patrick Maguire, Washington County Approved: 08/11/2019
A RESOLUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON
WHEREAS, Oregon is one of a small minority of states that allow unlimited donations to political candidates, and is one of only five with no contribution limits of any kind;
WHEREAS, Oregon has the highest per capita corporate contributions to political candidates of all the states;
WHEREAS, the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled in previous years that limiting campaign contributions will require an amendment to the Oregon Constitution;
WHEREAS, Senate Joint Resolution 18 refers to the voters a constitutional amendment to allow campaign contribution limits;
WHEREAS, House Bill 3004 and Senate Bill 1014 would have implemented a small-donor matching program (a particular type of publicly-financed election program);
WHEREAS, House Bill 2716 mandates that all campaign advertisements and literature clearly state who paid for them and House Bill 2983 mandates that certain organizations spending more than $50,000 must disclose the identities of major donors;
WHEREAS, a series of recent reports by The Oregonian entitled “Polluted by Money: How corporate cash corrupted one of the greenest states in America” have raised additional public concern over the influence of unlimited money in Oregon politics;
WHEREAS, trust in our democracy depends on the people of Oregon being certain that their elected officials are not unduly influenced by corporate contributions or by a few wealthy mega-donors; and
WHEREAS, Democratic Governor Kate Brown highlighted campaign finance reform as a key priority in her successful 2018 re-election campaign;
NOW, THEREFORE, THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY OF OREGON RESOLVES AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. We declare the substantial regulation of money in politics to be of paramount importance to the Democratic Party
Section 2. We commend state legislators for passing SJR 18, placing before the voters a State Constitutional Amendment expressly permitting campaign contribution limits including donations to candidates and ballot measures by individuals, corporations, Non Profit Organizations and PACs.
Section 3. We regret the failure to pas HB 3004 or SB 1014 during the 2019 session, and urge state legislators to support legislation to implement a small donor matching program during the 2020 session.
