Governor signs the ‘campaign finance destruction’ bill

from Honest Elections Oregon

Gov. Kotek signs the campaign finance destruction bill, HB 4018.

The Oregonian editorial board writes that HB 4018 was written in secret by big-money lobbyists and politicians, and would gut provisions limiting donors and create huge loopholes.

Gov. Kotek signed the bill despite objections from these and many other organizations:

• The League of Women Voters of Oregon said HB 4018 is a complete betrayal of voters. 
• Common Cause said the legislature acted in bad faith, creating loopholes for big money, reducing transparency, and undermining enforcement.
• The Campaign Legal Center, the nation’s leading experts on campaign finance regulation, stated that HB 4018 contains nonsensical provisions, weakens laws intended to prevent corruption, and creates glaring loopholes in all of the contribution limits.

The governor’s signing letter issued April 9 admits that the bill appears to go beyond sequencing changes and instead could weaken enforcement standards, narrow disclosure requirements, and introduce new ambiguities. But she signed it anyway. 

Her letter then incorrectly stated that there would be 2027 legislation required by SB 1502 from 2026. No such requirement exists. SB 1502 does nothing other than ask the secretary of state to send recommendations to the 2027 session about campaign finance limitations.

For Honest Elections Oregon, Jason Kafoury said: ‘We are deeply disappointed that the governor did not veto this gut-and-stuff bill. The citizens are left with no choice but to run an initiative for the 2028 ballot for real campaign finance reform in a constitutional amendment that the legislature cannot riddle with loopholes.’

Hundreds of Oregonians wrote to the governor to request veto of HB 4018. They told her:

• HB 4018 betrays and destroys the campaign finance reforms adopted by the legislature in 2024 in response to a pending stricter ballot measure.
  
• HB 4018 was a 95-page amendment drafted by big-money lobbyists first revealed less than one day before the only public hearing, where its opponents were allowed less than 10 minutes to testify.
  
• HB 4018 punches such huge loopholes in the contribution limits and disclosure requirements that it makes them a joke.

They suggested that she read the three Oregonian editorials opposing HB 4018 and pay attention to this list of HB 4018’s major loopholes in the contribution limits and disclosure requirements. HB 4018:

• Allows anyone and any entity to multiply its allowed contributions by creating new entities
  
• Creates a new unregulated category of political money with no limits and no disclosure requirements
  
• Removes all penalties for making unlawful contributions during 2027-2030
  
• Exempts most independent expenditures from original source disclosure requirements
  
• Delays all of the 2024 disclosure requirements until 2031 or 2032
  
• Doubles the contribution limits into all political committees that support or oppose candidates
  
• Cuts in half the allowable contributions to minor party candidates only.

If you want to contact somebody, you can contact Dan Meek at Honest Elections Oregon, dan@meek.net, or Jason Kafoury, Oregon Progressive Party, jason@progparty.org, or Seth Woolley, the Pacific Green Party, seth@swoolley.org.