If Senate Republicans want to indemnify themselves from $500 daily fines for walking out on the 2019 Legislature, they might have one easy solution: using campaign money.

Democratic leaders say they plan to dock the money from the absent lawmakers’ paychecks, using their constitutional authority to compel lawmakers to attend the Legislature.

But it appears Oregon’s wide-open campaign finance laws may allow the lawmakers to seek reimbursement using their campaign treasuries, which have been filled in part by corporate donors who oppose the cap-and-trade bill the lawmakers are protesting.

One freshman House member is pursuing legislation to ensure that they can’t, citing The Oregonian/OregonLive’s reporting this year on the impact of political money in Oregon.

Rep. Marty Wilde, D-Eugene, said he was using his final request for a priority bill – lawmakers get five – to have legislative attorneys research whether paying the fines with campaign money would in fact be legal and craft a bill to outlaw it if so. Wilde said it would be a first step in a broad effort to curb ways that lawmakers spend campaign money on things other than getting elected.

“I would have a real problem with someone paying an ethics fine out of their campaign budget,” Wilde said.

Dan Meek, an attorney who practices campaign law, said campaign funds can probably be used to pay the expenses and fines of the politicians who’ve walked out -- depending in part on whether walking out can be considered part of their official duties.

The lawmakers or their supporters would need to route money through a committee the lawmakers don’t control. One such committee, Stand With Our Senators PAC, was created Thursday.

Officials with the Oregon State Elections Division didn’t respond to repeated questions.

With just a few days remaining in the session and no quorum in the Senate, Wilde’s bill would face almost impossible odds of passing, even if Senate Republicans return.

Wilde said he aimed to have the bill serve as a starting point for a larger discussion about how campaign money is spent in Oregon. Citing The Oregonian/OregonLive series “Polluted by Money,” Wilde noted that problems with campaign spending in Oregon extend beyond the issue of fines.

Campaign spending should be limited to a candidate getting the word out about who they are, Wilde said, including things like mailers, TV and radio spots, a campaign website, staff, even child care so a candidate can knock on doors.

“It’d be nice to take a look and tighten a lot of this stuff down,” Wilde said.

Although Oregon says candidates can’t spend donations for personal use, legislators get a huge loophole. Campaign money can pay expenses connected with a lawmaker’s official duties.

Lawmakers can pick their excuse. Perhaps they needed a lavish dinner, posh resort stay, car wash or even dry cleaning because they hold office. Or because they’ll run for office again. Either way, they can pay the bills with campaign money.

“It becomes a form of legalized bribery,” Wilde said.

The Oregonian/OregonLive’s investigation found that since 2008, lawmakers from both parties spent an estimated $2.2 million in campaign funds on items prohibited in at least one other state.

One particularly egregious example, double-dipping, creates a conduit between corporate donors and their own wealth. More than 20 lawmakers have used campaign money to pay bills that taxpayers also reimbursed.

The Legislature pays lawmakers $149 each in per diems for food and lodging when they’re in session. It happens automatically, even if they live in Salem. Legislators living outside the capital can also turn some or all of the money into extra income by charging hotels and meals to their campaigns.

Since 2008, legislators’ campaigns paid $186,000 for lodging and meals while the Legislature met.

Multiple lawmakers told the newsroom that Oregon voters can keep them honest by monitoring expenditure reports posted online.

Wilde said that wasn’t enough.

“Transparency is not a panacea,” he said. “It’s the first step -- not the last.”

— Rob Davis

rdavis@oregonian.com

503.294.7657; @robwdavis

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