FEC allows candidate to use campaign funds to pay for childcare
Source: The Hill
BY ARIS FOLLEY - 05/10/18 12:50 PM EDT
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) ruled on Thursday to allow a female candidate running for Congress to use part of her campaign funds to cover childcare costs.
Liuba Grechen Shirley, who’s running to become congresswoman of New York’s 2nd district, scored the unprecedented victory after petitioning the the commission in April, Newsweek reported.
Grechen Shirley, who said she pays $440 a week for a babysitter to watch her toddlers, asked the FEC to use a portion of campaign funds to pay for childcare, arguing that she would need her babysitter's help in order to rival her primary opponent, 13-term Republican incumbent Pete King.
"Our babysitter is just as important as my campaign manager or my finance director," Grechen Shirley told Newsweek last month. "She's just as integral, and she's paid as staff. I couldn't run my campaign without her."
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/387116-fec-allows-female-candidate-to-use-campaign-funds-to-pay-for-childcare
"Denying Ms. Shirley's request would undermine the Commission's previous advisory opinions, discourage young mothers from seeking elective office, and deprive parents of ordinary means of the opportunity to serve," Clinton wrote in her letter. "Young women like Ms. Shirley are now running for office in record-breaking numbers ... Under a plain reading of the law, as applied to Ms. Shirley's facts, the answer to her question can only be 'yes.'"
= new reply since forum marked as read
