082218 KSEO, ETH 2018-04

• Case Date: August 22, 2018
• Court: Kansas

ETH 2018-04 Opinion No. 2018-04 Kansas Ethics Opinion August 22, 2018          Synopsis: If childcare expenses would not exist irrespective of the candidacy for public office, and those expenses have a direct connection with or effect upon the campaign of the candidate, then they may be paid with campaign funds.          Cited herein: K.S.A. 2017 Supp. 25-4157a, 52 U.S.C. § 30114(a), (b); 11 C.F.R. §§ 113.1, 113.2.          TO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS:          Pursuant to K.S.A. 25-4159, the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission issues this opinion regarding expenditure of campaign funds for childcare expenses.          ISSUE:          In general, candidates subject to the requirements of the Kansas Campaign Finance Act may have personal situations affected by a campaign. Paid childcare may be a necessary accommodation for campaigning candidates and officeholders. May campaign funds be used to pay for childcare?          ANALYSIS AND OPINION          Permitted use of campaign funds is provided in K.S.A. 25-4157a(a) which provides:

No moneys received by any candidate or candidate committee of any candidate as a contribution under this act shall be used or be made available for the personal use of the candidate and no such moneys shall be used by such candidate or the candidate committee of such candidate except for legitimate campaign purposes, for expenses of holding political office or for contributions to the party committees of the political party of which such candidate is a member.

For the purposes of this section, expenditures for "personal use" shall include expenditures to defray normal living expenses for the candidate or the candidate's family and expenditures for the personal benefit of the candidate having no direct connection with or effect upon the campaign of the candidate or the holding of public office.

         In Opinion No. 96-16, we stated:

To be a permissible use of campaign funds, an expenditure must be for a legitimate purpose, an expense of holding political office or a contribution to a party committee. In order to be a

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