Connecticut Nixes The Use Of Public Campaign Funds For Child Care

Aug. 10--Connecticut allows publicly financed candidates to spend money on golf tees, restaurant placemats and carving stations -- but not a babysitter.

State election regulators say child care costs fall under personal or household expenses, just like if a candidate used political funds to help cover a mortgage payment, cell phone bill or wear-and-tear on a personal vehicle.

That's the interpretation of a lawyer for the State Elections Enforcement Commission, who responded Thursday to a request from Caitlin Clarkson Pereira about whether the Democratic challenger in the 132nd House District in Fairfield could tap into her funds for a babysitter.

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Part of the surge of first-time women candidates who were motivated to run by the election of Donald Trump, the 32-year-old higher education professional said mounting child care costs create a hardship.

"We do not see a viable way to differentiate child care costs from the above mentioned examples or to say that child care is in direct furtherance of the nomination to a specific office," Shannon Clark Kief, a legal compliance director for the commission, wrote Clarkson Pereira.

It's the first time the agency has been asked about and opined on the use of public campaign funds for child care since Connecticut's clean-elections program was created in 2006.

In May, the Federal Election Commission unanimously ruled that candidates for Congress can use political contributions to pay for child care costs that stem from running for office. And last month, the state ethics commission in Arkansas ruled that candidates there could do the same.

Connecticut, where the majority of candidates for state office such as Clarkson Pereira are publicly subsidized, joins Massachusetts and Iowa in nixing the use of campaign funds for child care.

The political newcomer called the opinion disappointing, but said it won't deter her in her challenge of Republican incumbent Brenda Kupchick.

"I believe it's important that more areas of our society be structured to support working families," Clarkson Pereira said. "This is exactly why we have unequal representation in Hartford; the system precludes many residents from running. Maybe it is the expense of child care that holds them back -- or any of the other 'personal expenses' listed in the letter."

Clarkson Pereira received $28,150 from the voluntary Citizens' Election Program for campaign. To qualify, she had to raise $5,100 from individual contributors in increments of no more than $100.

"Since the inception of the program, commission staff has given advice about various other scenarios with respect to the personal use limits under the program," Kief wrote. "We have been asked, for example, whether public funds could be used to cover part of the mortgage payments for a family member's house that was used as campaign headquarters, to cover a portion of the candidate's personal cell phone bill since it was used to make calls to campaign staff and voters, and to pay for the candidate's clothing which was purchased with campaign engagements in mind."

Tarnished by a pay-to-play scandal that led to the resignation and imprisonment of Gov. John Rowland a decade ago, the state created the Citizens' Election Program to wean candidates off special-interest money and free them from the time required for fundraising.

"We have looked at whether public funds could be spent to replace the tires of a car that suffered wear and tear crisscrossing the state during a campaign," Kief wrote. "We have been asked whether CEP funds could be used to pay for a candidate's flight to Amsterdam in order to attend a conference the subject of which was part of his campaign platform and would result in pictures he could use in mailers."

Kief noted in her letter that her interpretation was not a formal declaratory ruling or advisory opinion by the commission.

"In many of these cases, we were sympathetic to the request and understood the argument that the personal items were being used for campaign related purposes; however, in each situation, applying the program rules and regulations, we advised the campaigns that public funds should not be used to pay for these items," she wrote.

Clarkson Pereira has taken her 3-year-old daughter, Parker, canvassing in the district and to political events. The alternative, she has said, is to pay a babysitter $15 an hour, plus gas money. Her husband travels for business, she has said, which gives her fewer child care options.

"The surge of women running for elected office, the #MeToo movement, and the creation of bills concerning pay equity and earned family medical leave have put all women -- not just candidates -- at a metaphorical fork in the road," she said. "We can take the usual trail, as we know it is safer. The other option is to face the challenges head-on and chose the road less traveled. We are already steps behind; we have nothing to lose. Now is the time to take the risks. Our country has done a terrible job of supporting mothers -- actually all parents -- in the workplace across all professions for far too long. It's time this is addressed."

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