Parents running for office can now use campaign funds for child care

It just got a bit easier for a parent of young children to run for office.

In a unanimous ruling Thursday, the Federal Election Commission voted to allow candidates to use campaign funds for child care, in response to a petition from one of the 527 women running for Congress in 2018.

“This is a game changer,” Liuba Grechen Shirley, a 36-year-old mother of two vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Republican Rep. Peter King of New York, told VICE News after the FEC unanimously approved her petition 4-0. “It’s very difficult to run full-time for a congressional seat as a working mother with toddlers. Half of our representatives are millionaires, and this is why.” Grechen Shirley worked as an independent consultant for international development while juggling parenting until jumping into the race last fall.

Grechen Shirley and her husband came to the hearing with their two young children, who skillfully demonstrated why child care could be so important during an all-consuming campaign. Two-year-old Nicholas ran in circles outside the hearing room yelling about monsters while 3-year-old Mila, after asking several times “Can we go now?” finally just pulled her mom toward the door.

And now Grechen Shirley will be able to use some of the $300,000-plus she has raised for her campaign to help take care of her kids. Her petition had drawn support from some of the most prominent women in the Democratic Party. Hillary Clinton submitted an official comment to the FEC in support of Grechen Shirley and tweeted about the case.

"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.

And Democratic Congresswoman Terri Sewell of Alabama whipped up support for Grechen Shirley among her colleagues in Congress and sent a letter to the FEC with 24 signatures from members of Congress. “By allowing candidates to use their private campaign funds to pay for childcare, the FEC is opening the door for working parents to have a voice in elective politics,” Rep. Sewell said in a statement.

The FEC had to weigh in because campaign finance rules bar candidates from spending campaign donations on things they’d be buying regardless of their run for Congress. A candidate can’t use campaign money to buy groceries or pay off their mortgage, for example.

Grechen Shirley argued that because she didn’t need child care before she announced her candidacy, that the FEC should allow her to hire it during the long hours of the campaign. A babysitter is as necessary as a campaign manager, she has argued. And the FEC agreed on Thursday.

“The Commission concludes that your authorized campaign committee may use campaign funds to pay for the childcare expenses described in your request because such expenses would not exist irrespective of your candidacy,” the FEC ruled.

There was some overlap with a 1995 FEC ruling that allowed candidates to spend campaign money on a babysitter when the candidate’s spouse needed to attend campaign events with the candidate.

Not everyone was on board with Grechen Shirley’s request, however. Her Democratic primary opponent, DuWayne Gregory, argued that it was tone-deaf and elitist. “Child care is a very real concern for lots and lots of families," Gregory’s spokesperson told NPR in April. "But all those other families find a way to pay for child care, and they certainly don't do it with political donations."

Rep. King, for his part, thinks it's fine. He told told Newsday: "It's up to the FEC, but I certainly have no problem if it goes ahead.