Insider Index: This week in Salem, by the numbers

Published 7:00 am Thursday, May 30, 2019

Here are 10 numbers that illustrate some of this week’s big, and small, Oregon political stories.

1999: Year Sen. Jackie Winters joined the Oregon Legislature, as a member of the House of Representatives. Winters, 82, died Wednesday.

0: Number of limits on what political donors can give to Oregon races.

2,800: Maximum amount, in dollars, an individual could donate per election to statewide candidates under the most recent amendments to a campaign finance reform bill, according to OPB. Under the current proposal, there are exceptions for unions and certain political committees; and Congressional candidates could give whatever they want to political party committees.

1,500: Maximum amount, in dollars, an individual could donate per election to state Senate candidates.

1,000: Maximum amount, in dollars, an individual could donate per election to state House candidates.

20,000,000: Amount, in dollars, that federal prosecutors allege that Michael Avenatti, a former lawyer for adult film actress Stormy Daniels, tried to extort from sportswear giant Nike, according to The Oregonian. Avenatti went to the company with what he claimed was evidence that Nike paid the families or associates of amateur basketball players.

900: Public defenders and other support staff the state would hire under a proposal in the legislature to fix a public defense system that advocates say is struggling to defend people accused of crimes, according to OPB.

5: Years Oregon lawmakers have banned hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in the state, according to the Statesman-Journal. There are some coal bed methane wells near Coos Bay, but other than that there are no fracking wells in the state.

42: Percent of Oregonians surveyed who said that making new friends was “not too important” or “not at all important” to them, according to a recent survey commissioned by Pemco Insurance. FBK Research surveyed 600 Oregonians.

1,000,000,000: Amount, in dollars, Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., wants to put in a fund to cut back on large wildfires in the West, according to Willamette Week

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