I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1515 To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for the treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services as an authorized campaign expenditure, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 2, 2021 Ms. PORTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on House Administration A BILL To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for the treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services as an authorized cam- paign expenditure, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 3 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 4 ‘‘Help America Run Act’’. 5 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 1515 IH (1) Everyday Americans experience barriers to 1 entry before they can consider running for office to 2 serve their communities. 3 (2) Current law states that campaign funds 4 cannot be spent on everyday expenses that would 5 exist whether or not a candidate were running for 6 office, like rent and food. While the law seems neu- 7 tral, its actual effect is to privilege the independently 8 wealthy who want to run, because given the de- 9 mands of running for office, candidates who must 10 work to pay for childcare or to afford health insur- 11 ance are effectively being left out of the process, 12 even if they have sufficient support to mount a via- 13 ble campaign. 14 (3) Thus current practice favors those prospec- 15 tive candidates who do not need to rely on a regular 16 paycheck to make ends meet. The consequence is 17 that everyday Americans who have firsthand knowl- 18 edge of the importance of stable childcare, a safety 19 net, or great public schools are less likely to get a 20 seat at the table. This governance by the few is anti- 21 thetical to the democratic experiment, but most im- 22 portantly, when lawmakers do not share the con- 23 cerns of everyday Americans, their policies reflect 24 that. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 1515 IH (4) These circumstances have contributed to a 1 Congress that does not always reflect everyday 2 Americans. The New York Times reported in 2019 3 that fewer than 5 percent of representatives cite 4 blue-collar or service jobs in their biographies. A 5 2015 survey by the Center for Responsive Politics 6 showed that the median net worth of lawmakers was 7 just over $1 million in 2013, or 18 times the wealth 8 of the typical American household. 9 (5) These circumstances have also contributed 10 to a governing body that does not reflect the Nation 11 it serves. For instance, women are 51 percent of the 12 American population. Yet even with a record number 13 of women serving in the One Hundred Sixteenth 14 Congress, the Pew Research Center notes that more 15 than three out of four Members of this Congress are 16 male. The Center for American Women And Politics 17 found that one-third of women legislators surveyed 18 had been actively discouraged from running for of- 19 fice, often by political professionals. This type of dis- 20 couragement, combined with the prohibitions on 21 using campaign funds for domestic needs like 22 childcare, burdens that still fall disproportionately 23 on American women, particularly disadvantages 24 working mothers. These barriers may explain why 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 1515 IH only 10 women in history have given birth while 1 serving in Congress, in spite of the prevalence of 2 working parents in other professions. Yet working 3 mothers and fathers are best positioned to create 4 policy that reflects the lived experience of most 5 Americans. 6 (6) Working mothers, those caring for their el- 7 derly parents, and young professionals who rely on 8 their jobs for health insurance should have the free- 9 dom to run to serve the people of the United States. 10 Their networks and net worth are simply not the 11 best indicators of their strength as prospective pub- 12 lic servants. In fact, helping ordinary Americans to 13 run may create better policy for all Americans. 14 (c) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ensure 15 that all Americans who are otherwise qualified to serve 16 this Nation are able to run for office, regardless of their 17 economic status. By expanding permissible uses of cam- 18 paign funds and providing modest assurance that testing 19 a run for office will not cost one’s livelihood, the Help 20 America Run Act will facilitate the candidacy of represent- 21 atives who more accurately reflect the experiences, chal- 22 lenges, and ideals of everyday Americans. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 1515 IH SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE AND 1 OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AU- 2 THORIZED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE. 3 (a) PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED CAM- 4 PAIGN EXPENDITURE.—Section 313 of the Federal Elec- 5 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended 6 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 7 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE 8 AND OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED 9 CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE.— 10 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.—For pur- 11 poses of subsection (a), the payment by an author- 12 ized committee of a candidate for any of the per- 13 sonal use services described in paragraph (3) shall 14 be treated as an authorized expenditure if the serv- 15 ices are necessary to enable the participation of the 16 candidate in campaign-connected activities. 17 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 18 ‘‘(A) LIMIT ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF PAY- 19 MENTS.—The total amount of payments made 20 by an authorized committee of a candidate for 21 personal use services described in paragraph (3) 22 may not exceed the limit which is applicable 23 under any law, rule, or regulation on the 24 amount of payments which may be made by the 25 committee for the salary of the candidate (with- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 1515 IH out regard to whether or not the committee 1 makes payments to the candidate for that pur- 2 pose). 3 ‘‘(B) CORRESPONDING REDUCTION IN 4 AMOUNT OF SALARY PAID TO CANDIDATE.—To 5 the extent that an authorized committee of a 6 candidate makes payments for the salary of the 7 candidate, any limit on the amount of such pay- 8 ments which is applicable under any law, rule, 9 or regulation shall be reduced by the amount of 10 any payments made to or on behalf of the can- 11 didate for personal use services described in 12 paragraph (3), other than personal use services 13 described in subparagraph (D) of such para- 14 graph. 15 ‘‘(3) PERSONAL USE SERVICES DESCRIBED.— 16 The personal use services described in this para- 17 graph are as follows: 18 ‘‘(A) Child care services. 19 ‘‘(B) Elder care services. 20 ‘‘(C) Services similar to the services de- 21 scribed in subparagraph (A) or subparagraph 22 (B) which are provided on behalf of any de- 23 pendent who is a qualifying relative under sec- 24 tion 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 1515 IH ‘‘(D) Health insurance premiums.’’. 1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 2 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 3 of this Act. 4 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:37 Apr 17, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1515.IH H1515 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS