On April 3, Democrats and Republicans gathered in glee to watch Governor Tina Kotek sign House Bill 4024, which establishes campaign contribution limits.

“Often, the word ‘historic’ can feel overused. But I know for a fact that there were many people – including myself at times – who thought getting campaign contribution limits through the legislature would never happen,” Governor Kotek said. “But, we are here today to acknowledge and celebrate the efforts that have led to House Bill 4024 in this year’s legislative session, bringing Oregon into the company of 45 other states that have campaign contribution limits.”

House Speaker Julie Fahey (D-Eugene) stated, “We set out to find a compromise because the alternative was an expensive and potentially confusing fight at the ballot--as well as years of legal challenges. Thankfully, everyone involved came to the table in good faith, and I'm grateful for their hard work. HB 4024 truly represents the Oregon Way of getting things done.”

The bill passed with very little bipartisan support from Republicans. "HB 4024 is a phony campaign reform conducted by corporate interests and unions as an end run against a ballot measure," said Senator Brian Boquist (R-Polk). "If the People want reform they must do it themselves."

This bipartisan effort was led by then-House Majority Leader Julie Fahey and House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich in partnership with a variety of stakeholders. House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich (R-Hood River) stated, “Oregonians expect fairness and transparency in their elections. This bipartisan bill takes great strides to achieve more of both. Republicans remain committed to uncoupling power from insiders and returning it to the people of our great state."

Forty submitted testimony in support from mostly unions, and 190 opposed from such organizations as Voters of Oregon, Consolidated Oregon Indivisible Network, Common Cause Oregon, Philanthropy Roundtable, Alliance for Democracy, League of Women Voters of Oregon, and even the Pacific Green Party acknowledged large loopholes leading to dishonest elections calling it smoke and mirrors.

David Wall, known as Mr. Oregon in writing testimonies wrote, “HB 4024 is an unregulated quagmire, a warren of legal complexities forcing astute candidates for office to hire an Attorney(s). This alone stamps out democracy."

Wall points out that "In-Kind Donations" in the bill can be easily corrupted and a good way to "launder money". For example, a contributor to a campaign could say their "In Kind Donation" to their candidate of choice was worth $2000.00 when in fact the "In-Kind Contribution" has a value of, $10.00. Who at the Secretary of State will be the wiser?

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

Senator Brian Boquist (R-Polk) warned in testimony of the unions backroom secret meetings and said those dealings need to be made public. He wrote in testimony, “Corporate Union Feudalism has been gradually taking over the entire country over the past two decades, It is obvious most elected legislators, both state and federal, think you or we are part of the future ruling class. Be warned, as history records, we legislators will be peasants and serfs not rulers of anything very shortly. All of us regardless of caucuses or parties or even independents.

“The effort in this bill to make citizen campaign participation meaningless while empowering the corporations with their union backers is a clear effort to keep the police state oligarchs in power. The Oregon Supreme Court made it clear in Elkhorn (2020) we are a police state. The court's exact words. We legislators would be making a serious mistake to assume millennials and younger will simply sit by while we continue their indenturement. We have become used to the sheep classes of older people which is a mistake. The silence in the Capitol halls as citizens abandon participation, the lack of emails, the lack of telephone calls, is not acceptance at all. It is the beginning of a Millennial Revolution.”

What the supporting Republican legislators failed to recognize is why Democrats allowed this bill to pass. HB 4024 takes away the method Republicans had to raise funds and kept how Democrats raise funds, and leaves unions unchecked with unlimited campaign funding. The way around this law is how Democrats have been operating for years establishing thousands of political action committees to raise funds. Now Republicans have to start from a disadvantage to set up a system of thousands of political action committees in order to be competitive with Democrats. Is HB 4024 the kind of reform voters were hoping for?

State agencies overseeing elections and campaign finance in Oregon will now work to implement the law so that it can go into effect smoothly in 2027.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2024-04-04 13:24:52

Last Update: 2024-04-04 00:36:21