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<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b><big>We are 80% of the way
to getting two crucial campaign finance reform measures on Oregon’s
November ballot. Your help <u>now</u> can make it happen!<br>
</big></b><br>
Now is the time to join over 300 other volunteers who are getting
signatures for the Oregon Campaign Finance Reform Initiatives:
Petition 8 and Petition 37.<br>
<br>
On Petition 8,
the one-sentence constitutional amendment, we</font><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> have collected over
111,000 signatures. But we need 140,000 to be safe. <b>So we need
just
29,000 more signatures on Petition 8 before July 7.<br>
<br>
</b></font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">On Petition 37,
the statute limiting political contributions in all state and local
races in Oregon,</font><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"> we
have collected over 92,000 signatures, but we need
106,000 to be safe. <b>So we need just 14,000 more signatures on
Petition 8 before July 7.</b></font><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
To get signature sheets, contact <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="mailto:info@fairelections.net">info@fairelections.net</a> or
800-939-8011
<b>and give us your mailing address</b> and the number of signature
sheets you want (spaces for 10 signatures per sheet). Be ambitious;
ask for many sheets. This is the best way to go. </font><font
face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif">Each
signature sheet is a 3-fold "self-mailer" that is pre-addressed back to
FairElections Oregon.</font><br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
Or go to <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated"
href="http://www.fairelections.net">www.fairelections.net</a> and
click on "Create Your Petition Packet" in the left column. If you do
this, YOU MUST PRINT THE "COVER SHEET" <u>ON THE BACK</u> OF THE
"SIGNATURE SHEET" OR ALL THE SIGNATURES YOU COLLECT WILL NOT COUNT.<br>
</font>
<blockquote>
<blockquote><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><b><u>With the
endorsements and support of the Oregon Sierra Club, Alliance for
Democracy, <br>
OSPIRG, and many others, we can get this done and make
history.</u></b></font><br>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<div class="moz-signature"><font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><font
color="#000000">Thanks!</font><br>
</font><br>
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<td><font face="BankGothic Md BT" size="4">Dan Meek</font><br>
<font face="arial" size="2"><b></b><a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:dan@meek.net">dan@meek.net</a>
</font></td>
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<br>
<font face="Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif"><br>
Check out this article in the Portland Alliance:<br>
<br>
</font>
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<div align="left"> <b><font size="3"><b><font size="2"><a
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<h2 align="left"><!-- #BeginEditable "story%20location" --> <b><font
size="3"><b><font size="3"><font size="2"><a
href="http://www.theportlandalliance.org/index.html">Front Page</a></font></font>
> <font size="2"><a
href="http://www.theportlandalliance.org/issues.html">Issues</a></font>
> <a href="http://www.theportlandalliance.org/index.html"><font
size="2"> 2006</font></a>></b></font></b><strong><font size="2">April</font></strong><!-- #EndEditable --></h2>
<h2 align="left"><!-- #BeginEditable "title" -->Sierra Club backs
campaign finance reform<!-- #EndEditable --> <br>
</h2>
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<p>By Dave Mazza</p>
<p>The state’s largest
environmental group is throwing its weight behind two statewide
petition initiatives that, if passed, would severely limit the role of
money in Oregon elections. The Sierra Club of Oregon announced its
endorsement of Initiative Petitions 8 and 37 (see sidebar for details)
in a Feb. 28 press release. FairElections Oregon is circulating both
statewide campaign finance reform measures. Oregon is one of only five
states that do not limit political contributions. </p>
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<div class="style1" align="center">Initiative Petitions 8 & 37</div>
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<blockquote> </blockquote>
<br>
<span class="style2 style3 style3">Oregon voters originally
approved political contribution limits in 1994, but three years later
the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the state constitution did not
allow such limits. FairElections Oregon is trying to correct that by a
two-step process.<br>
<br>
Step one is Initiative Petition 8, a one-sentence amendment to the
Oregon constitution that would permit limits to be imposed on political
contributions. Step two is Initiative Petition 37, a detailed statute
that restores and updates the 1994 limits.<br>
<br>
Initiative Petition 37 bans all corporations, labor union treasuries,
and other entities from making contributions in candidate campaigns.
There are 21 states that currently ban corporate contributions and 14
that ban union contributions. Initiative Petition 37 allows any
individual person to contribute in candidate races (primary and general
elections are separate races):<br>
</span>
<ul>
<li><span class="style2 style3 style3">$500 in any statewide
race (governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, labor
commissioner, superintendent of education, appeals court judge); and</span></li>
<li><span class="style2 style3 style3">$100 in any
non-statewide race (state legislature, city council, etc.).</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="style2 style3 style3">In addition, any person can
contribute $50 per year to any small donor committee, $500 to any
political committee, and $2,000 to any political party with an
aggregate limit on all of these contributions of $2,500 per person per
year. Individuals contributing within these limits would be the only
source of funds for political committees and political parties.<br>
<br>
Initiative Petition 37 allows anyone or any group to create a small
donor committee which can receive contributions of $50 or less per
contributor per year. The committee can use these funds in any amount
to support or oppose any candidate or candidates. Membership
organizations of individuals such as public interest groups or labor
unions can form these committees — as well as regular political
committees — and can allocate part of each member’s dues to the
committee as long as it doesn’t allocate more than $50 per member per
year. Membership organizations can also solicit contributions from its
members.<br>
<br>
Under Initiative Petition 37, a candidate may spend not more than
$50,000 in a statewide partisan race or $10,000 in any other race with
those limits increased by 50 percent for non-incumbents.<br>
<br>
Initiative Petition 37 bans all such expenditures by corporations,
unions, and other entities and limits individuals to “independent
expenditures” of not more than $10,000 per year on all candidate races.
Further, it requires:<br>
</span>
<ul>
<li><span class="style2 style3 style3">Every campaign ad funded
by “independent expenditures” must prominently disclose everyone who
contributed $1,000 or more to the “independent” campaign, their lines
of business and the amounts contributed; and</span></li>
<li><span class="style2 style3 style3">Anyone making
independent expenditures during any two-year election cycle in excess
of $200 must publicly report the expenditures in the same manner and
schedule as a political committee must report.</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="style2 style3 style3">For more information on
Initiative Petitions 8 & 37, see <a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.fairelections.net">www.fairelections.net</a>. For
information on the Sierra Club endorsement, see
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="http://www.oegon.sierraclub.org">www.oegon.sierraclub.org</a>.</span><br>
<blockquote> </blockquote>
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<p>“What
Tom DeLay was indicted for in Texas is completely legal in Oregon,”
states Harry Lonsdale, a former candidate for the U.S. Senate and
supporter of the two measures.</p>
<p>Backers of the two measures
say Oregon’s current system allows wealthy individuals and corporations
to buy the government they want — leaving most citizens to pay the
price in more ways than one.</p>
<p>“If we really want Oregon’s
government to reflect the values of Oregonians, then we have to change
our campaign finance system,” explained Barry Wulff, Oregon Chapter
Sierra Club’s political chair. “As long as corporate polluters have so
much control of our political system, we should not be surprised when
the system continues to allow pollution of Oregon’s air, water and
people.”</p>
<p>The claim by supporters of Petitions 8 and 37 about
money choking our political system seems upheld by the numbers. Over
the past decade, the cost of Oregon campaigns increased tenfold.
Corporations outspent labor unions by five-to-one and environmental
groups by 100s-to-one. In the 2002 gubernatorial race, Republican
candidate Kevin Mannix received over $1.2 million from six corporate
contributors. Between them, gubernatorial contenders Mannix and Ted
Kulongoski spent $4.5 million. The cost to win a contested state senate
seat is now more than $500,000. A similar seat in the state house is
more than $250,000.</p>
<p>Candidates are the only ones claiming
money doesn’t buy results. Enron purchased PGE in 1997. Over the
following two election cycles they contributed more than $400,000 to
legislative candidates from both major parties. In return, they
received the largest electricity rate increase in Oregon history —over
$400 million per year. They also got away with charging Oregon
ratepayers more than $800 million in “state and federal income taxes”
never paid by PGE or Enron.</p>
<p> The Sierra Club and FairElections
Oregon both believe public support for reform is at an all-time high.
In 1994, 72 percent of Oregon voters approved limits on political
contributions, only to have the Oregon Supreme Court strike it down as
unconstitutional. A recent Oregon voter poll conducted by Riley
Research Associates shows 76 percent of Oregon voters support the
establishment of limits on state and local campaign contributions. Only
13 percent oppose and 11 percent remain undecided. Of those who
expressed an opinion, 85 percent favored creation of limits, including
90 percent of Democrats, 79 percent of Republicans and 87 percent of
“other.”</p>
<p>Winning
the endorsement of the Sierra Club is a major coup for the election
reformers. Not only is the Club the largest member-based environmental
group in the state, they are the most active in electoral politics,
bringing money and a cadre of members with experience in electoral
politics. And then, of course, there is the name recognition the Club’s
endorsement extends to an issue. All of this will be needed for the
campaign to collect the 100,840 valid signatures necessary by the July
7, 2006 deadline to qualify for the November ballot.</p>
<p>“These
are really important ballot measures that will help Oregonians take
back our political system and help restore confidence that our
government is not being run by wealthy corporate interests,” states
Ivan Mulaski, a Sierra Club task force member. “We will be urging all
of our members to take a very active role in this campaign.”</p>
<p> Dave Mazza is editor of The Portland Alliance. <!-- #BeginEditable "back%20to%20top" -->
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