LobbyComply Blog

 Lawmakers have proposed an amendment to a campaign finance bill passed during the 2024 legislative session. House Bill 4018 establishes contribution limits along with various other oversight of campaign finance and is slated to become effective in future years. The newly proposed amended version of House Bill 4018 seeks to delay the upcoming rollout of certain portions of the bill, including a modernized online system until 2031 or 2032. Some legislators suggest that delaying parts of the bill going forward would lower the costs for the Office of Secretary of State. The new contributions limits would currently be left intact and would still become effective January of 2027.

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Governor Tina Kotek recently called for the legislature to come back at the end of August for a special session. The session will look to address legislation regarding road maintenance, operations of the Oregon Department of Transportation, and other funding necessary for the state’s transportation needs. The special session will begin on August 29.

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The 83^rd session of the Legislature adjourned sine die on June 27. Lawmakers did not pass a last-minute attempt to delay Oregon’s campaign contribution limits, established last year by House Bill 4024. The limits are set to take effect in 2027, however some legislators wanted to postpone the limits until 2031.

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The Board of Commissioners recently passed an ordinance which requires lobbyist registration and reporting. The new law will require a lobbyist to register upon meeting certain thresholds such as agreeing to provide personal services for money or any other consideration, and spending 10 or more hours during any calendar quarter lobbying, excluding travel and time. Statements of lobbying expenses will be required to be filed by both the lobbyist and principal with the county. Amongst other information, the reports must show the total amount of money expended on food, refreshments and entertainment, and the name of any public official to whom, or for whose benefit, an expenditure which exceeds $50 has been made for the purpose of lobbying, and the date, name of payee, purpose, and amount of the expenditure. These reports will be quarterly and due January 15, April 15, July 15, and October 15 of each year. The ordinance is effective July 1, 2026.

The Portland City Auditor Office of Campaign Finance and Lobbying Regulations issued guidance for the recently updated lobbying portal. Beginning with lobbying reports covering the second quarter of 2025, communications will be reported and grouped by associated official actions of interest, rather than by date and type. Details will be combined in order to group similar lobbying communications together within one entry. Other updates involve the simplification of lobbying expenditure reporting and updates to voluntary disclosures. A reminder was issued that both time and money spent by lobbying entities on indirect lobbying count towards the city’s registration and reporting thresholds. Indirect lobbying includes efforts to influence city officials by communicating through an intermediary to promote, oppose, or advocate on official action. These updates are meant to reduce the administrative burden and simplify lobbyist activity reporting.

Gov. Tina Koteck announced she is calling a special session so lawmakers may meet to appropriate funds regarding the 2024 wildfire season.

Almost two million acres of land were burned during the state’s wildfire season with costs estimated to be upwards of $350 million.

Gov. Koteck is requesting the Legislature consider voting to release $218 million to the Oregon Department of Forestry.

The special session will begin on December 12.

The legislature adjourned sine die on March 7.

Lawmakers passed a campaign finance reform bill which creates state campaign contribution limits and authorizes local governments to establish lower limits for local elections.

House Bill 4024 also requires the disclosure of certain information on political advertising and requires specific persons to report the original sources of funds used to pay candidate campaign independent expenditures.

The contribution limits will become operative on January 1, 2027 and the enhanced campaign contribution and independent expenditure reporting requirements will become operative on January 1, 2028.

If signed by the governor, the bill is effective June 6.

State business and labor groups have been working on legislation to limit campaign contributions in state races.

Oregon is one of just five states with no limits on political contributions.

These negotiations come as a proposal, known as Initiative Petition 9, has a chance of qualifying for the November ballot.

The petition would impose additional campaign finance disclosures and strict contribution limits for individuals, political parties, and interest groups.

The Oregon Elections Division announced a new multi-year initiative to promote the state’s campaign finance laws.

The compliance program has been named CLEAR and will be implemented in three phases.

Oregon is currently working on a website overhaul of Oregonvotes.com to make it easier for the public to locate campaign finance information and gain access to the online filing system ORESTAR.

The Election Division is working on publishing an online database of campaign finance violations and penalties expected to launch in late August.

New training videos and compliance documentation will be available to assist campaigns in staying complaint with the law.

Oregon’s Secretary of State Shemia Fagan announced her resignation on May 3, after reports revealed Fagan has been working a side job as a consultant for a failing marijuana dispensary chain.

The Office of the Secretary of State is currently undergoing a statewide audit of the marijuana industry.

Deputy Secretary of State, Cheryl Myers, will step in as acting secretary next Monday.

Gov. Kate Brown will then appoint a replacement to serve the remainder of the current term, which expires at the end of 2024.

A commission created to review the current government structure in Portland, Oregon has voted to put a comprehensive governmental restructuring proposition on the ballot this November.

Voters will get to decide on expanding the number of City Council members to 12, implement ranked-choice voting for council members, and hire a professional city administrator.

These changes come on the heels of mass-dissatisfaction among the Portland residents.

Increases in crime, homelessness, and housing costs have all been blamed for the amplified scrutiny of the current government.

Oregon’s campaign finance system web provider, Opus Interactive, is asking all users to change passwords following a ransomware attack Sunday night.

Hackers infiltrated Opus Interactive, granting them access to a C&E Systems database.

C&E Systems handles campaign finance compliance and is used by Oregon candidates, treasurers, political parties, and committees.

The attackers encrypted the database, which included login credentials to ORESTAR.

Only about 6% of C&E Systems users were affected by the hack, but all users are recommended to change passwords.

No sensitive data was accessed, but data was blocked from being accessed by the Opus Interactive team.

Secretary of State Shemia Fagan is currently working with cyber security experts to remedy the situation.

The Oregon Legislative Assembly adjourned sine die March 4, after voting on 60 bills on their last day in session.

Highlights from the short session include access for low-income Oregonians to air conditioners, financial aid for low-income families, and mandated overtime payments to farmworkers.

The session was affected by the Great Resignation, with 20 lawmakers retiring or moving to different positions within the government.

Honest Elections Oregon has hit an administrative roadblock in their crusade to bring campaign contribution limits to the state.

Oregon, one of five states without campaign contribution limits, has seen municipalities take matters into their own hands.

Honest Elections Oregon ran successful campaigns in Portland and Multnomah County, establishing campaign finance limits and is now seeking a bigger prize, statewide limits.

However, Secretary of State Shemia Fagan has rejected the proposed ballot initiatives because the initiatives did not include the full text of the Oregon Laws the proposed initiatives would change.

If rejected, Honest Elections Oregon will need to start the ballot initiative process over again.

The process, including regathering 112,020 signatures, would need to be completed before July 8.

Jason Kafoury, one of the organizers of Honest Election Oregon, has stated the rejection would be the death knell for the proposition.