The Oklahoman: Time for Oklahoma to take cue from other states on campaign finance?
By Editorial Board
It’s worrisome any time Oklahoma lands at the wrong end of national rankings, particularly when an independent group determines the state imposes more burdensome regulations than most. Thus, a report from the Institute for Free Speech, which reviews states’ campaign finance regulations, warrants Oklahoma policymakers’ attention…
The institute gave Oklahoma an F and ranked the state 41st nationally. The only praise Oklahoma received was for a change made in 2014 when officials eliminated the “per family” contribution limit…
But the institute stresses that Oklahoma “has a lot more work to do,” pointing out we’re one of just 15 states to impose limits on contributions from individuals to political parties and from parties to their candidates. The state also “severely curbs” the ability of political action committees to contribute to parties…
In comparison, the institute notes 28 states allow unlimited donations to parties; 22 permit parties to provide unlimited support to candidates; 32 allow unions, corporations or both to give contributions directly to candidate campaigns; and 11 have no limits on how much individuals may contribute to candidates or parties. (Neighboring Texas, dominated by Republicans, landed in the institute’s top 10 states, but so did liberal Oregon.)
If so many other states can operate with far less restrictive campaign finance limits, without creating any notable problems, then there’s no reason to think Oklahoma can’t do the same.
