Candidates for state office are about to get some new restrictions about how they can use campaign cash.
Paying your home mortgage with a campaign account? That would be prohibited under a new law signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin. So would using campaign cash for clothing, automobiles, vacations, tuition, sporting events, concert tickets or even country club memberships. Senator Jennifer Boysko is a Democrat from Herndon who says she would have liked to have seen an exemption for candidates to use political contributions to buy a wardrobe.
"I am glad to know that there are many nonprofits that work to help with business attire that can help supplement someone's wardrobe if need be," Boysko says. "But in the end that was not the will of the body."
One expenditure that is authorized is child care.
"Not only did we allow child care but dependent care as well," says Delegate Mike Cherry, a Republican from Colonial Heights. "Because we do have some legislators that are taking care of elderly family members that they need care for while they’re campaigning."
So, what about buying a pizza for campaign volunteers? The new law forbids using campaign cash for household food items, but if candidates want to know if the pizza would run afoul of the law, they can ask for an advisory opinion from the Virginia Department of Elections.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
