Sponsored by: Moses Ross, Multnomah County Approved: 11/17/2019
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, 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, the Oregon Supreme Court has ruled in previous years that limiting campaign contributions will require an amendment to the Oregon Constitution;
WHEREAS, in 2019, the 2019 Oregon legislature passed Senate Joint Resolution 18 (SJR 18) which refers to Oregon voters an amendment to the Oregon Constitution to expressly permit campaign contribution limits.
WHEREAS, Article 5- Governance, Plank 9, of the Democratic Party of Oregon Platform asserts ‘We believe a government of the people must not be unduly influenced by special interests, corporate power, religious beliefs, or money”,
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 congratulate our legislators for passing SJR 18 and declare our strong support for and encourage Oregon voters to pass the Ballot Measure that will enact SJR 18.
