New York Approves The Use Of Campaign Funds For Childcare Expenses
Parents of young children are now allowed to use campaign funds to pay for childcare in New York.
New York joins 11 other states that allow state and local candidates to use campaign funds on child care.
Liuba Grechen Shirley successfully petitioned the Federal Election Commission to allow her to pay for childcare with campaign funds in a 2018 congressional election on Long Island. She is now the founder of Vote Mama, a political advocacy group that works with mothers running for office as Democrats.
“To take a year-and-a-half off your life without a salary, and campaign 24/7, and then also pick up the cost of childcare is cost-prohibitive for normal working Americans, those who are not independently wealthy.”
She says she hopes government will begin to look more like the people it represents – that means more mothers in office.
Connecticut faces a lawsuit brought by a mother who sued after the all-male State Elections Enforcement Commission denied her the use of campaign funds to pay for childcare.