The Oregonian: Oregon lawmakers pay their businesses with campaign funds - it's legal, but is it ethical?
Brendan Fischer, counsel at The Campaign Legal Center, in Washington D.C., said the arrangement casts doubts on who Williamson is really working for -- constituents, or her party.
"If a person is doing nothing but politics, nothing but legislating and raising money for electoral races and otherwise involved in politics," he said, "they're undermining the idea of a citizen legislature."
On the other hand, Fischer said, running a caucus is a big job. If it comes with no pay, only the independently wealthy can serve in the Legislature's upper echelons.