Money is the largest influencer of political decision-making at all levels of government, including the city. The presence of large contributions from special interests discourages people from running for office, makes people distrust their government and therefore undermines our democracy. Almost 90% of Multnomah County and Portland voters approved strict campaign contribution limits and disclosure requirements for independent expenditures in ads (called taglines). In the 2019 Oregon State Legislative session the legislature referred SJR18 to the ballot. The ballot measure would amend the Oregon State Constitution to explicitly legalize campaign contribution limits and disclosures enabling the local campaign finance reform measures to be fully enforceable and legally defensible. We support passage of the SJR18 ballot measure on the 2020 statewide ballot.
(Alliance for Democracy, Portland Forward)