SENATE COMMITTEE ON RULES

March 04, 2003 Hearing Room 343

3:00 p.m. Tapes 16 - 17

MEMBERS PRESENT: Sen. Kate Brown, Co-chair, Presiding

Sen. Bev Clarno, Co-chair

Sen. Jason Atkinson, Vice-chair

Sen. Ginny Burdick, Vice-chair

Sen. Roger Beyer

Sen. Tony Corcoran

STAFF PRESENT: Jim Stembridge, Committee Administrator

Pam Cox, Committee Assistant

MEASURE/ISSUES: SJR 3 – Public Hearing

SB 379 – Public Hearing

SJR 15 – Public Hearing

SJR 10 – Public Hearing

SJR 20 – Public Hearing

These minutes are in compliance with Senate and House Rules. Only text enclosed in quotation marks reports a speaker’s exact words. For complete contents, please refer to the tapes.

TAPE#	Speaker	Comments
TAPE 16, A
005	Co-chair Brown	Calls meeting to order at 3:10 p.m. Opens public hearing on SJR 3, SB 379, SJR 15, SJR 10 and SJR 20.
SJR 3, SB 379, SJR 15, SJR 10, SJR 20 – PUBLIC HEARING
006	Ted Reutlinger	Senior Deputy, Legislative Counsel. Offers a brief overview of the amendment process for changes to the Constitution.
092	Sen. Burdick	Asks about the limits on campaign spending.
110	Reutlinger	Answers under the current law it is impossible to limit expenditures.
129	Sen. Charlie Ringo	District 17. Testifies in support of SJR 20, which proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution to allow Legislative Assembly, or people through initiative process, to enact laws limiting or prohibiting certain contributions made in connection with financing of election campaigns. Describes the amount of funds used and the influence of political contributions in his legislative race.
174	Sen. Kurt Schrader	District 20. Testifies in support of all bills. Describes the excessive costs of campaigning and explains that these bills will bring back trust of the voters.
237	Rep. Max Williams	District 35. Testifies in support of measures. Explains Oregon is one of five states that have no limitations on campaign spending.
354	Sen. Burdick	Asks if steps could be taken in reporting to control expenditures.
355	Rep. Williams	Explains reporting is the only viable method.
371	Sen. Schrader	Agrees.
383	Sen. Atkinson	Comments on costs for the vote-by-mail process and notes a work group will be put together for these bills.
416	Rep. Williams	Acknowledges vote-by-mail has increased the costs of campaigning.
420	Sen. Burdick	Asks if he would be in favor of making the limits statutory.
426	Rep. Williams	Responds to additional protections.
TAPE 17, A
009	Sen. Richard Devlin	District 19. Testifies in favor of SJR 15, which proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution specifying that Legislative Assembly, or people through initiative process, may enact laws limiting certain contributions made to candidates for public office. Points out significant increase in campaign costs and comments on the targeted expenditure figures.
097	Sen. Corcoran	Asks for clarification regarding the proposed amendment.
101	Sen. Devlin	Answers Governor would still have veto power.
102	Sen. Corcoran	Asks if that would apply to a referral.
103	Sen. Devlin	Answers it would not.
105	Sen. Corcoran	Asks about protections on referral process.
114	Sen. Devlin	Clarifies the impacts.
127	Rep. Mark Hass	District 27. Testifies in support of SJR 20 and submits written testimony (EXHIBIT A).
161	Don Bishoff	Legislative Assistant to Sen. Bill Morrisette. Expresses Sen. Morrisette’s support for all the bills. Suggests the amendments would improve campaign financing.
202	John Lindback	Elections Division, Secretary of State. Testifies in support of SB 379, which defines express advocacy for purpose of determining whether communication qualifies as independent expenditure; and SJR 3, which proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution to establish political contribution limits. Submits conceptual amendments on these bills (EXHIBIT B).
238	Janice Thompson	Executive Director, Money in Politics Research Action Project (MIPRAP). Testifies in support of SJR 3 and SJR 15. Suggests wording changes and submits a graph (EXHIBIT C).
281	Sen. Corcoran	Asks about unfair limitations.
282	Thompson	Answers and continues explaining wording changes on SJR 15.
367	Sen. Corcoran	Asks why there was not a figure on independent expenditures on her graph.
368	Thompson	Offers an explanation on years where figures were left out.
TAPE 16, B
020	Thompson	Continues and discusses tracking of independent contributions.
045	Sen. Corcoran	Asks what states have the better laws.
047	Thompson	Notes Maine, Arizona and North Carolina.
050	Sen. Corcoran	Asks if any of the language on today’s measures resembles these states’ laws.
052	Thompson	Responds it does not.
055	Co-chair Brown	Asks if part of the puzzle is to afford to run for office.
060	Thompson	Answers the reform is still not a panacea.
066	Norman Turrill	League of Women Voters of Oregon. Testifies in support of SJR 10, which proposes amendment to Oregon Constitution to allow Legislative Assembly, or people through initiative process, to enact laws limiting or prohibiting certain contributions made in connection with financing of election campaigns. Testifies in support of SJR 3, SJR 15 and SJR 20. Notes the Constitution needs to be amended to add limits to campaign spending. Submits written testimony (EXHIBITS D, E).
121	Steve Lanning	Oregon AFL-CIO. Testifies in opposition to SJR 3 and summarizes how it will affect large unions.
171	David Fidanque	American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Oregon. Testifies in opposition to SJR 3, SJR 15, SJR 10, SJR 20 and SB 379. Explains these proposed bills could be handled differently without changing the Constitution.
293	Sen. Corcoran	Asks about the ACLU’s position on the issue of hit pieces without attribution.
294	Fidanque	Answers free speech is protected by the first amendment, which was written to protect anonymous speech.
370	Sen. Corcoran	Asks for clarification on anonymity if rich industrialists make large contributions
384	Fidanque	Notes he does not suggest money is free speech or that making a contribution is an expression of political support.
TAPE 17, B
001	Fidanque	Continues.
026	Co-chair Brown	Asks if public financing is pragmatic.
027	Fidanque	Answers he does not believe these bills are the answer.
046	Andi Miller	Executive Director, Common Cause Oregon. Submits written testimony and defers to David Buchanon (EXHIBIT F).
051	David Buchanon	Former Executive Director of Common Cause Oregon. Testifies in support of SJR 20 and explains the loss of spending limits in Oregon in 1973.
180	Sen. Burdick	Expresses appreciation for the explanation of Oregon’s history on losing spending limits.
200	Joe Keizur	Political Director, Democratic Party of Oregon. Testifies in support of these bills. Explains the law on campaign spending has too many loopholes. Suggests forming a workgroup to combine these bills.
230	Co-chair Brown	Closes public hearing on SJR 3, SB 379, SJR 15, SJR 10, and SJR 20. Adjourns committee meeting at 4:43 p.m.

EXHIBIT SUMMARY

A – SJR 3, SB 379, SJR 15, SJR 10, and SJR 20, written testimony, Rep. Mark Hass, 2 pp

B – SJR 3 and SB 379, suggested amendments, John Lindback, 1 p

C – SJR 3, SB 379, SJR 15, SJR 10, and SJR 20, graph, Janice Thompson, 1 p

D – SJR 3, written testimony, Norman Turrill, 1 p

E – SJR 15, SJR 10, and SJR 20, written testimony, Norman Turrill, 1 p

F – SJR 20, written testimony, Andi Miller, 1 p