SALEM, Ore. — Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek signed House Bill 4024 on Wednesday afternoon, officially enacting a large-scale campaign finance reform package that will place upper limits on donations to political candidates starting in January 2027 and create new disclosure rules for political transactions.
"Often, the word 'historic'? A little overused," Kotek said during the signing ceremony. "But I know for a fact that there were many people, myself included at times, who thought that getting campaign contribution limits through the Oregon legislature would never happen. But here we are today, to acknowledge and celebrate all the efforts that have led to House Bill 4024."
Campaign finance reform has been a long-simmering topic in Oregon, which until now has been one of the few remaining states in the country with no limits on the amount of money that campaigns can get, or who that money can come from.
Oregon voters have put limits in place multiple times through ballot initiatives, only to see them undone after the fact. After a 1995 initiative was challenged in court, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that the limits violated the right to free speech enshrined in the State Constitution.
An initial attempt to change the constitution failed at the ballot box in 2006, but Oregon voters passed a new constitutional amendment in 2020, opening the door to campaign finance limits. Advocates launched three ballot initiatives to put limits in place in the 2022 election, but they were all shot down on technical grounds.
The legislative overhaul was one of the biggest items to emerge from this year's short session, spurred in part by the possibility of a new voter initiative making on the ballot in November. The bipartisan compromise that emerged from the House Rules Committee and ultimately passed both the House and Senate by wide margins.
"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," House Speaker Julie Fahey said in a statement.
The law sets an upper limit of $3,300 for donations from individuals to candidates in statewide races, putting an end to the kind of large-scale donations that statewide candidates have received in recent years, such as Nike co-founder Phil Knight's seven-figure contributions to unaffiliated candidate Betsy Johnson and Republican candidate Christine Drazan in the 2022 governor's race.
It also places limits on donations from businesses, advocacy groups and nonprofits to candidates in statewide races, so contributions like the $1.7 million that Kotek received from the Service Employees International Union would also be prohibited. Local governments will be able to set their own limits for local elections.