One barrier to Georgians running for office and serving in the General Assembly is caregiving: the time and expense that goes into taking care of children or other family members.
That’s particularly true for some state lawmakers, who may have to spend thousands of dollars during the annual three-month General Assembly session on child care expenses for a part-time job that pays $22,000 a year.
The state Ethics Commission this week gave those lawmakers and candidates a break, deciding that they can use money they raise from donors to pay caregiving expenses while they are campaigning or doing work related to their office.
Rep. Stacey Evans, D-Atlanta, and Rep. Beth Camp, R-Concord — who asked the commission to opine on the issue — said allowing candidates to use campaign contributions to pay caregiving costs could help persuade more mothers and fathers to run for office. It may also make serving more affordable.
“This could provide some relief for (lawmakers), but the main thing this is going to do is take away a barrier to encourage more women to take that step now that they have the comfort to know that child care will be covered,” Evans said. “I think this is going to be a huge weight off of people. It takes away something in the ‘no’ column in deciding whether to run.”
Currently, state law allows candidates and those in elected office to use the money they raise from donors — often from lobbyists, lobby associations and business groups for incumbents — for expenses related to their contests and, if elected, for maintaining their stay in office. That, for instance, means paying for advertising, consultants, food and transportation while campaigning or on official business, fundraising mailers and even club memberships.
What it hasn’t meant was paying to have kids in day care or someone to come in to watch a sick or elderly parent while a candidate was campaigning or serving in the General Assembly.
The move to add child care as a permissible campaign expense is relatively new. In 2018 Liuba Grechen Shirley, a mother of two young children, lost a congressional race in New York. She was repeatedly asked who would watch her children while she campaigned.
Shirley successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission to become the first woman to receive approval to spend the funds she raised for her campaign on child care expenses. Her Vote Mama Foundation encourages young mothers to run for office and is working to expand the expense allowance to state and local candidates in all 50 states.
Evans said this week that, so far, it’s been approved in 22 states, and 11 more are considering it.
In presenting the commission’s opinion, Joe Cusack, deputy executive secretary, told the panel, “I think it’s good policy to enact this, as a new parent.”
But one commission member, Stan Wise, a former longtime elected member of the Public Service Commission, asked, “Where does it stop?” Should candidates and elected officials, Wise said, be able to use campaign money to buy food for their children or health care or pay the mortgage?
“If child care is an appropriate expense ... caregiving is every bit as personal as feeding your family,” he said. “How do you differentiate the difference between caregiving and feeding your kids and health care?”
Under state law, candidates and lawmakers can’t legally convert campaign contributions for personal use.
In other words, they can’t raise $100,000 from donors and put it toward buying a house because the candidate/official will personally own the house and purchasing it has nothing to do with either their run for office or maintaining their office once elected. They can’t use the money for taking a vacation to the Bahamas or for acquiring stock or for buying a fancy car to tool around town in (unless it’s classified as a campaign vehicle).
They can’t pay for their children’s health insurance with campaign money because they’d have to buy that whether or not they were a candidate or serving in office.
Now, in Georgia, young mothers and fathers will be able to use campaign donations to pay to have someone watch their kids while they are campaigning or, in some cases, at the General Assembly. The commission unanimously approved the advisory opinion supporting the move, with Wise backing it.
Evans, a mother, said she probably couldn’t use campaign money for child care because she already has to pay for it because of her full-time job as a lawyer. However, it would help those who only need to pay for caregiving because they are serving.
Evans said she has spoken to women who served in the General Assembly and left in part because of child care issues.
“This really is the right thing to do,” she said, “and it also sends the message that Georgia values mothers and caregivers.”
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