Portland Chapter members meet with Ellen Brown, right. The Portland OR Alliance for Democracy chapter recently welcomed Ellen Brown, founder and chair of the Public Banking Institute. Ellen participated in a Strike Debt Debtors' Assembly as well as a public talk on how Portland and Oregon would benefit from formation of public banks. In addition, chapter members arranged for her to visit with the Portland City Attorney's office, and to meet with candidates running for city council.
The Portland chapter has not just been working on public banking. They're organizing to enact a city charter change to end political bribery in city elections. Using their local initiative process, they are trying to enact limits on political contributions/expenditures and to require that political ads disclose the top five entities paying to run the ad.
In working for these reforms, the chapter is going up against a state Supreme Court that has declared all such limits to be an unconstitutional infringement on individual free speech rights. Individual is understood to include corporations. But the proposed charter change would ban all corporate contributions, directly challenging the OR Supreme Court rulings.
Chapter activists have also begun the process for a state-wide initiative to amend the state constitution to allow limits. When they are successful, we will have this initiative on the ballot in Nov. 2020.
The Portland chapter has not just been working on public banking. They're organizing to enact a city charter change to end political bribery in city elections. Using their local initiative process, they are trying to enact limits on political contributions/expenditures and to require that political ads disclose the top five entities paying to run the ad.
In working for these reforms, the chapter is going up against a state Supreme Court that has declared all such limits to be an unconstitutional infringement on individual free speech rights. Individual is understood to include corporations. But the proposed charter change would ban all corporate contributions, directly challenging the OR Supreme Court rulings.
Chapter activists have also begun the process for a state-wide initiative to amend the state constitution to allow limits. When they are successful, we will have this initiative on the ballot in Nov. 2020.
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