Skip to main contentHere's a little bit of a man-bites-dog story.
Last week, the Oregon House considered a couple of bills (House Bills 2894 and 2239) that would limit political campaign contributions. Oregon is currently one of only five states that allow unlimited contributions. One of those who offered forceful testimony in favor of limits was Paul Romain, a lobbyist for the Oregon Beer & Wine Distributors Association, among other clients.
That's somewhat counter-intuitive because the Beverage Political Action Committee Romain directs has doled out nearly $600,000 in contributions since Jan. 1, 2007, according to filings with the Oregon Secretary of State. That total makes the group one of Salem's largest concentrated givers.
Here's the written version of testimony Romain offered the House Rules Committee last week:
In an interview today, Romain acknowledged that he might seem to be under-cutting a source of Beverage PAC's considerable influence. But Romain says he thinks lawmakers would be willing to consider policy discussions on their merits without the sweetener of large checks. He says he thinks political discourse would be clearer and more honest if there weren't so much money flushing through the system, buying mail and electronic ads of questionable veracity.
"We were effective when we didnât have a PAC," Romain says. "We think discussions should be based on logical arguments, not who has the most money."
Somewhat unusually for a lobbyist, Romain submitted his comments on his own, rather than as the view of his clients. But he thinks most of the people for whom he works share his view on contributions.
"It's just spiraling out of control," Romain says of political spending. "Where will it end?"
WWeek 2015