Reform: Oregon currently
labeled 'pay-to-play' territory
Continued from page 1
FairElections Oregon is a joint ven
ture between Harry Lonsdale, a three
time candidate for U.S. Senate, and Dan
Meek, a public interest lawyer based in
Portland. The organization is focusing
on two goals: changing the way money
flows into campaigns and reducing the
influence of large corporations, unions
and lobbying groups.
FairElections Oregon’s petition plans
are twofold: The first goal is to gather
150,000 signatures to place Petition 8 on
the ballot. Petition 8 is a one-sentence
Constitutional amendment allowing
Oregonians to enact campaign finance
limits. Second, FairElections Oregon
must receive another 100,000 signa
tures to place Petition 37 on the same
ballot. Petition 37 would enact a com
prehensive system of campaign
finance restrictions.
Petition 37 would ban all corpora
tions, labor unions and other entities
from making campaign contributions.
The petition would heavily restrict how
much money individuals could donate
to candidate campaigns as well — $500
in any statewide partisan race, $200 in
any statewide nonpartisan or judicial
race and $100 for any non-statewide
race, which includes city
council campaigns.
Among other monetary caps would
be a $20,000 limit on campaign funds
from a candidate’s personal account.
The debate over campaign finance
reform is not new. Legislation restrict
ing campaign donations has existed
since the days of the Tammany Hall
scandal in 1932.
The first state laws regulating
campaign finance reform passed in the
later 19th century. These laws generally
related to minimal disclosure
requirements.
In 1897, four states took a greater
step toward finance reform, banning all
corporate contributions. The first feder
al law, banning some corporate contri
butions, was passed in 1907.
For six decades, campaign finance re
form remained on the periphery, re
vised incrementally by only a few laws.
In 1971, major reforms came with the
passage of the Federal Election Cam
paign Act of 1971. In 1974 FECA was
amended, establishing a framework of
contribution and spending limits.
The 1990s saw a resurgence in cam
paign finance reform legislation, though
it either languished in committee or
failed to pass the House or Senate. That
changed March 27, 2002, when Presi
dent Bush signed legislation enacting
new limits on campaign fundraising.
The legislation, supported by Reps.
Chris Shays (R-Conn.) and Martin Mee
han (D-Mass.), put limitations on so
called “soft money” contributions
to parties.
In 1994, Oregon voters enacted their
own campaign finance reform law with
a 72 percent vote. However, in 1997 the
Oregon State Supreme Court ruled the
reforms unconstitutional, saying they
violated free speech provisions within
the state Constitution. Petition 8 would
amend the constitution to make cam
paign finance reform constitutional
in Oregon.
Today, this is where Oregon stands. It
is one of five states without campaign
finance reform legislation. These states
are considered “pay-to-play” territories
by campaign finance reform propo
nents who, like the organizers of Fair
Elections Oregon, believe that large cor
porations, powerful unions and savvy
lobbying organizations have usurped
the political process, donating massive
amounts of money in return for
political favors — a quid pro quo of
democratic influence.
Opponents of campaign finance re
form argue that current regulations on
campaign donations are sufficient and
that further legislation would stifle
free speech.
According to the CATO Institute, a
Washington, D.C., policy think tank,
campaign finance reform is predicated
on false assumptions.
Bradley A. Smith, an assistant profes
sor at Capital University Law School,
wrote in a CATO-sponsored policy pa
per titled “Campaign Finance Regula
tion: Faulty Assumptions and Undemo
cratic Consequences,” that the first
assumption of campaign finance reform
is that too much money is entering the
political process.
“The second assumption of cam
paign finance reform is that money
buys elections in some manner incom
patible with a functioning democracy,”
Smith wrote.
According to Smith, when a candi
date spends a large amount of money,
he or she often sees a jump in his or her
poll numbers. This can, but does not al
ways, result in an overall victory.
“Correlation is not the same as cause
and effect, and one must be careful not
to make too much of such simple num
bers,” Smith wrote. “The correlation
may stem simply from the desire of
donors to contribute to candidates who
are likely to win, in which case the abil
ity to win attracts money rather than the
other way around. ”
Smith writes that high campaign
spending does not always equal victo
ries. Michael Huffington, Lewis
Lehrman, Mark Dayton, John Connal
ly and Clayton Williams spent lavishly,
and they all lost their bids for
elected office.
“It’s one of those issues that’s not lib
eral and it’s not conservative; it’s bipar
tisan,” said Tony Andersen. “I tend to
stay away from radical issues, which
was why I was attracted to this one. ”
Andersen said that his experience
has been enriching because, unlike oth
er political internships where interns
stand on street comers asking passers
by for petition signature, he has become
a part of the political process.
But Andersen, and the other volun
teers and interns for Fair Elections Ore
gon, still have to gather 250,000 signa
tures by November, 2006.
One way of gamering support is by
getting the community involved. In the
first of several planned events, FairElec
tions Oregon is organizing a fundraising
event for the month of August. Titled
“Take a Gamble on Democracy,” the
event will feature Texas Hold ‘Em and
Black Jack, which will result in prizes
for the participants. The event will take
place at the Eugene City Brewery in the
basement of the Rogue Brewery located
at 844 Olive St. on Aug. 5.
Other FairElections Oregon volun
teers affiliated with the University are
Shaun Cook, a Planning, Public Policy
and Management undergraduate and
Tyrone Reitman, a recently graduated
Planning, Public Policy and Manage
ment masters student.
Andersen said that he believes in
campaign finance reform because it is
about people power rather than
party power.
“When you have corporations just
throwing money into the political
process, it’s common sense (to fight
against it),” said Andersen.
IN BRIEF
Mayor's monthly session
meets at Market of Choice
Eugene Mayor Kitty Piercy will hold
her monthly One-on-One public met
and greet session at the Market of
Choice on 2858 Willamette St. tonight.
From 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., Piercy will
meet with any member of the public
and answer questions on any topic.
The sessions, which are usually
held on the last Tuesday of each
month, are in a different location
each time.
City councilors Bonny Bettman,
Ward 1, and Betty Taylor, Ward 2, will
also be there to meet with
constituents.
For more information, call the City
Manager’s office at 682-5010.
* — Gabe Bradley
Display: University impacts Oregon newspapers
Continued from page 1
Gleason said Allen Hall was an ap
propriate location for the hall of fame
because the University’s school of jour
nalism has had a strong impact on the
direction of Oregon newspapers over
the years.
“Seven living members of the hall of
fame were at the reception the other
day, and of the seven, four of them are
graduates of the (University’s) school
of journalism,” Gleason said. “Symbol
ically it was a nice blend of showing
the involvement of the school in
Oregon newspapers.”
“The ONPA was housed in Allen
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Hall for many years,” Gleason said.
Emphasizing the role of the journal
ism school in Oregon newspapers is
one of Gleason’s priorities.
“That’s an important thing to me,”
he said.
Gleason said he tried to emphasize
this theme in his remarks at the
dedication ceremony.
Gleason also said the location of the
display within Allen Hall is particularly
appropriate. Since the Hall of Fame is
directly across from the student re
source center, many students will have
a chance to see the display.
“I think it’s a wonderful reminder
and perhaps inspiration to current
students,” Gleason said.
He said that seeing some of the
great faces in the history of Oregon
newspapers may encourage
future journalists.
“I can take some inspiration from
them,” Gleason said.
He said all 49 people in the hall of
fame can provide him with personal
inspiration. Eric Allen, the first dean
of the school of journalism and the
namesake of Allen hall, is particular
ly inspiring, Gleason said.
From Allen, Gleason said he can
draw “inspiration every day.”
gabebradley@dailyemerald. com
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