Oregon lawmakers say they want campaign donation limits -- just not the ones voters already approved

Gov. Kate Brown, state Sen. Jeff Golden

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown, a Democrat, and state Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland. (File/The Oregonian)

With support from Gov. Kate Brown, Oregon lawmakers are preparing to ask voters in November 2020 whether to change the state constitution to limit money in politics.

There’s a catch: The lawmakers plan to have the measure preempt campaign contribution limits Oregon voters already enacted in 2006.

The 2006 restrictions are on the books but unenforceable. The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that the state constitution protects campaign contributions as free speech.

Lawmakers are working to change that. They could ask voters to simply change the constitution and explicitly make donation limits legal. That would allow the 2006 initiative, Measure 47, to take effect.

Instead, Brown and the Legislature are proposing to preempt it. Beneficiaries of campaign cash -- lawmakers -- would then get to write their own campaign finance controls. A separate voter initiative specifying limits also could head to the ballot in 2020.

Today, Oregon is one of five states with no limits on campaign donations. Corporations, unions, interest groups and wealthy individuals can give as much as they want. No one gives more than corporations. A recent investigation by The Oregonian/OregonLive found that the lack of limits has turned Oregon into one of the biggest money states in American politics.

Allowing Measure 47 to take hold would dramatically curtail contributions, giving Oregon some of the nation’s most restrictive limits. Killing it would let lawmakers or voters decide anew what limits should be.

Dan Meek, a campaign finance reform advocate who backed the 2006 measure, called the current legislative effort “a direct insult to all voters.”

“It will solidify the reputation of the Oregon Democratic Party as highly retrograde on campaign finance reform,” Meek said. “They’ve had majorities or supermajorities for years and a Democratic governor since 1986 and haven’t done a thing.”

State Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland, ran on reforming the state’s campaign finance laws and is chairman of the Senate’s newly created Campaign Finance Committee.

Golden said a measure that would allow past restrictions to take effect would not have enough support. When the 2006 measure was on the ballot, liberal groups including the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon, Planned Parenthood and the state’s powerful teachers union led the opposition.

“My informal reading of the building is that would be harder to pass out of here,” Golden said. “I’m wary of things that would reduce support for that.”

The measure that lawmakers are preparing to send to voters, Senate Joint Resolution 18, would change the constitution to state explicitly that campaign finance limits are allowed. An amendment posted Wednesday says the measure would only apply to limits created after January 1, 2016.

The cutoff date would disqualify Measure 47, which won 53 percent of the vote. It capped donations at $500 for statewide office and $100 for legislative races.

An earlier version of the proposal would have set the cutoff date at December 3, 2020. That would have preempted measures passed by sweeping majorities in Portland and Multnomah County in the past three years.

Lawmakers changed the date after The Oregonian/OregonLive inquired about Meek’s concerns.

Nikki Fisher, a spokeswoman for Brown, said the governor “is committed to working with local entities to ensure the campaign finance reform measures adopted by voters can continue to create transparency in their local communities.”

Molly Woon, deputy director of the Democratic Party of Oregon, said before any proposal became final there would be a full discussion of ways to protect the Portland and Multnomah County initiatives.

But neither Woon nor Fisher addressed why legislators aren’t working to allow Measure 47 to take effect.

The 2006 ballot measure prohibits corporations and unions from donating except through committees solely funded by individuals. The law has lived in suspended animation for 13 years because voters rejected a companion measure to make it constitutional.

Oregon’s Supreme Court has ruled that the measure could take effect as soon as the constitution is changed to allow it.

If a majority of voters approve the 2020 constitutional change, lawmakers might set higher limits. One lawmaker, Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, has proposed capping donations at $5,000. That’s five times as much as Washington allows, and 50 times what Oregon voters allowed under Measure 47.

Voters could also set limits at the ballot.

If Measure 47 is preempted, Meek said, he will again head to the ballot. “We will go much lower than the legislators want,” he said.

The Senate Campaign Finance Committee held a hearing on the measure Wednesday but took no action.

— Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

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