Campaign finance; prohibited personal use, child care exception. (HB1952)

Introduced By

Del. Marcus Simon (D-Falls Church) with support from 30 copatrons, whose average partisan position is:

Those copatrons are Del. Hala Ayala (D-Woodbridge), Del. Jeff Bourne (D-Richmond), Del. Lee Carter (D-Manassas), Del. Mark Cole (R-Fredericksburg), Del. Karrie Delaney (D-Centreville), Del. Kelly Fowler (D-Virginia Beach), Del. Nancy Guy (D-Virginia Beach), Del. Dan Helmer (D-Fairfax Station), Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), Del. Chris Hurst (D-Blacksburg), Del. Mark Keam (D-Vienna), Del. Kaye Kory (D-Falls Church), Del. Paul Krizek (D-Alexandria), Del. Mark Levine (D-Alexandria), Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington), Del. Martha Mugler (D-Hampton, Del. Mike Mullin (D-Newport News), Del. Kathleen Murphy (D-McLean), Del. Ken Plum (D-Reston), Del. Cia Price (D-Newport News), Del. Sam Rasoul (D-Roanoke), Del. David Reid (D-Loudoun), Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas Park), Del. Ibraheem Samirah (D-Herndon), Del. Mark Sickles (D-Alexandria), Del. Shelly Simonds (D-Newport News), Del. Suhas Subramanyam (D-Sterling), Del. Rip Sullivan (D-Arlington), Del. Kathy Tran (D-Springfield), Del. Vivian Watts (D-Annandale)

Description

Campaign finance; prohibited personal use; child care exception. Prohibits any person from converting any moneys, securities, or like intangible personal property contributed to a candidate or a candidate's campaign committee to his personal use, the personal use of the candidate, or the personal use of a member of the candidate's immediate family. Current law prohibits such conversion of contributions to personal use specifically with regard to disbursement of surplus funds at the dissolution of a campaign or political committee. The bill provides that a contribution is considered to have been converted to personal use if the contribution, in whole or in part, is used to fulfill any commitment, obligation, or expense that would exist irrespective of the person's seeking, holding, or maintaining public office but excepts from "personal use" the ordinary and accepted expenses related to campaigning for or holding elective office, including the use of campaign funds to pay for the candidate's child care expenses that are incurred as a direct result of campaign activity. The bill directs the Attorney General to issue an advisory opinion explaining the provisions of the Campaign Finance Disclosure Act of 2006 that prohibit the personal use of campaign funds. The bill directs the State Board of Elections to adopt emergency regulations to implement the provisions of the bill and to provide an updated summary of Virginia campaign finance law that reflects the Attorney General's opinion and any new regulations promulgated by the Board. Read the Bill »

Status

02/25/2021: Failed to Pass in Committee

History