The investing information provided on this page is for educational purposes only. NerdWallet, Inc. does not offer advisory or brokerage services, nor does it recommend or advise investors to buy or sell particular stocks, securities or other investments.

The year has barely started, and my kindergarten parents group chat is already buzzing with summer camp anxiety. Registrations are opening and spots fill fast.

I’ve been doing research and here’s what I’ve learned: Camps aren’t cheap. But there are creative ways to work camp into your spending plan, this year and next.

The cost of summer camp

For many families with school-aged kids like mine, summer camps are a necessity. Schools are out and many parents work full-time. Summer camps fill an important child care gap.

The League of Women Voters of Oregon isn’t known for foot-stomping tantrums or fanatical rhetoric. So, when a representative for the voter education group sits before legislators and denounces a bill as a “complete betrayal,” it’s worth listening up.

The betrayal in this case is House Bill 4018. The legislation seeks to delay and change portions of a 2024 campaign finance bill that had been negotiated by a coalition of good government groups, including the League, with House Speaker Julie Fahey, labor union representatives and business lobbyists. In exchange for passage of the contribution caps and disclosure requirements in that 2024 legislation, the coalition agreed to pull a developing ballot initiative that would have asked voters to impose limits. Most of the bill’s provisions were to go in effect in 2027 — presumably giving plenty of time to work out legislative or implementation issues.

Only now, legislators, lobbyists and the Oregon secretary of state are collectively saying, “Whoa.” HB 4018 — this time negotiated by Fahey behind closed doors without any good government representatives — would allow the contribution limits to take effect in January 2027 as originally planned. But it also seeks to delay donor disclosure requirements until 2031, doubles the donation limits in some cases and undoes protections that were central to the original legislation.

Among the worst changes: the bill would weaken the 2024 legislation’s “anti-proliferation” provision, which prevents donors from skirting limits by funneling additional contributions to candidates through political action committees, corporations or other entities that they control or create. The new bill would add language that would allow contributions from all those entities provided that they were not created for the “sole purpose” of evading the limits.

That flimsy standard would allow the same powerbrokers who have dominated Oregon politics to continue to do so with ease, said attorney Dan Meek, the longtime campaign finance expert with the Honest Elections Oregon coalition who led the good government groups’ negotiations in 2024.

“Complete betrayal” is exactly right. It’s a betrayal not only of the coalition that forced legislators to finally take action in 2024, but of Oregonians who have been clamoring for meaningful contribution limits for decades. Instead, Oregon remains one of only five states in the country that allows unlimited direct contributions to candidates. HB 4018, passed by the House Rules Committee last week with only Republican Alek Skarlatos voting “no,” is now in the Joint Committee for Ways and Means.

Proponents are casting HB 4018 as a way to ensure that campaign finance reforms are done right, with “needed policy clarifications to ensure the program can actually work for everyone” and by giving the secretary of state’s office time to build and implement a software program to handle the data and disclosure, Fahey’s office said. Neither argument, however, holds up.

Start with the supposed “fixes.” There’s the kneecapping of the anti-proliferation provision mentioned above, but critics have pointed out several more.

The 2024 bill laid out limits for contributions based on the type of donor and the office that a candidate is seeking — for instance a $5,000 donation from an individual to a multicandidate political action committee over a two-year election cycle. But for some of those categories, the new bill shortens the time period from a two-year cycle to one year, while keeping the same dollar amount. If the desire was to establish an annual limit, legislators should have similarly halved the donation total, Meek said.

Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that Emily Johnson and Mark Stagliano have joined the firm as partners in the New York office. Johnson joins the Banking & Private Credit and Capital Markets Practices, while Stagliano joins the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice. Johnson’s practice focuses on all financing aspects of complex corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and spin-offs, with particularly deep experience in company-side, issuer-focused financings. Stagliano’s practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, and company representation work, including corporate governance. The addition of these prominent partners further elevates Latham’s elite, fully integrated corporate and finance practice and marks a major expansion of the firm’s industry-leading capabilities.

“Emily and Mark are among a select group of highly experienced and incredibly talented practitioners, and we are delighted to welcome them to our firm,” said Rich Trobman, Chair and Managing Partner of Latham & Watkins. “Their market-leading practices directly support our strategic focus to advise our clients on complex transactions across the capital structure and high-profile public company M&A. No other firm combines our excellence and scale — nor our ambition — and Emily and Mark joining us is another major milestone for our firm.”

Marc Jaffe, Managing Partner of Latham’s New York office, said: “We are thrilled to add partners of Emily’s and Mark’s stature to our practice in New York and globally. They are well-respected senior counselors with enormous credibility in boardrooms. Having led numerous sophisticated and transformative transactions over many years, their range of skills and sought-after expertise significantly expands our already strong and growing platform and the best-in-class counsel we provide to our clients.”

Johnson’s practice focuses on advising public companies, corporate borrowers, and strategic acquirers on the design and execution of debt and capital structures that advance strategic objectives and remain durable across market cycles. Her experience spans investment-grade and leveraged financings, bank and direct lending, public and private capital markets transactions, and liability management, including corporate separations, carve-outs, and transformational M&A transactions, as well as distressed acquisitions, divestitures, and restructurings. Johnson’s practice also involves close, ongoing engagement with boards of directors, senior management teams, and corporate treasury functions to balance financing certainty, ratings considerations, disclosure obligations, and execution risk.

“Emily is an incredible addition to our top-ranked practice at the intersection of complex financings, capital markets, and liability management,” said Stelios Saffos, Global Chair of Latham’s Capital Markets and Public Company Representation Practices and Global Chair of the Hybrid Capital Practice. “She further expands our unparalleled reach across private credit providers, banks, bond investors, and capital markets participants, and enhances the scaled advice we deliver to clients through our fully integrated practice. Her experience leading complex transactions that require coordinated advice across multiple disciplines — often under heightened board, investor, and public market scrutiny — carries tremendous credibility among public company boards and senior management teams. We are thrilled that Emily is joining our team, further expanding our capacity in an area where client demand is robust and expected to grow.”

Stagliano’s practice focuses on public company and sponsor-side mergers and acquisitions, securities matters, and corporate governance. He advises companies in a variety of industries on a wide range of matters, including domestic and cross-border acquisitions and divestitures, spin-offs, joint ventures, IPOs, and other capital markets and private equity transactions, as well as shareholder activism, takeover defense, and proxy contests.

Alex Kelly, Global Co-Chair of Latham’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice, said: “Mark’s breadth of experience further enhances our world-class M&A practice, and he brings many complementary strands to our corporate ambitions in New York and globally. His impressive track record leading landmark transactions — including high-profile strategic combinations, corporate governance matters, and contested situations — bolsters our capabilities, and it is exactly the kind of integrated, cross-practice advice that sophisticated boards and management teams need in today’s increasingly competitive market. Mark has earned a standout reputation for being extremely hard-working, entrepreneurial, and an outstanding team player, and his arrival reinforces Latham’s position at the forefront of the practice.”

“Latham is well-known for excellence across financial products, industries, and jurisdictions, and I am delighted to join the firm and contribute to its long-term growth,” said Johnson. “Latham’s unique 360-degree view of the public and private markets provides a powerful platform to help boards and senior management teams navigate increasingly complex financing decisions, combining strategic insight with execution across the full range of capital solutions — from traditional syndicated and capital markets to the expanding private credit ecosystem.”

Stagliano said: “Latham is a transactional powerhouse that is exceptionally well positioned to capitalize on the increased activity in public M&A. I am delighted to join the firm’s all-star team, and excited to be part of Latham’s ongoing success and growth in New York and beyond.”

Johnson and Stagliano join Latham & Watkins from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. Johnson received her JD from Duke University School of Law and BA from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Stagliano received his JD from Harvard Law School and BA from University of Pennsylvania.