Political candidates would be allowed to use campaign funds to take care of their dependents, such as child care expenses, in what several supporters hope will attract more diverse, family-oriented candidates to run for political office.
They would not be allowed to pay family members to take care of their children or parents living in their homes if state Senate Bill 1202 gets signed into law by Gov. Josh Green.
He’s in American Samoa this week to commemorate the 125th anniversary of when the U.S. flag was first raised on Tutuila Island. And Green’s office has told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that Green will withhold comment on any pending legislation until after the session’s scheduled adjournment May 2.
Bills similar to SB 1202 have cleared the Senate but failed to pass the House until this year, when House Democrats elected Hawaii’s first female House speaker, Nadine Nakamura.
If it becomes law this year, Hawaii would join 39 states and the District of Columbia that followed a 2018 decision by the Federal Election Commission to allow candidates for federal office to use campaign funds for child care, according to the Vote Mama Foundation.
The foundation advocates for the use of campaign funds for child care in all 50 states and supports passage of SB 1202.
But it also would help political candidates take care of their older family members, said Gary Simon, a member of the board of the Hawaii Family Caregiver Coalition, which advocates for support for adult care.
But there’s an overlap between care for children and caring for fragile senior citizens, Simon told the Star-Advertiser.
“If it’s friendly for the elderly, it’s friendly for the young ones, too,” Simon said. “Age-friendly policies and programs are often child-friendly policies, such as paid family leave and caregiver tax credits.”
If it becomes law, all political parties should educate candidates of their ability to use campaign funds for family care, Simon said.
“They need to get out and tell their candidates that this is available to them, because this bill has flown under the radar,” he said. “They need to say, ‘This is available to you, and the more candidates we have, the better choices we can make.’”
The bill follows advisory opinions from the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission that candidates should be allowed to use campaign funds to care for children and other dependent family members.
But Anthony Baldomero, the Campaign Spending Commission’s associate director, told the Star-Advertiser that the commission’s advisory opinions were focused only on the issue of whether campaign funds could be used for family care — and unrelated to goals by organizations that want to encourage family-oriented and female candidates, such as the Honolulu County Committee on the Status of Women.
The committee supports SB 1202 and wants more female candidates in office to represent the concerns of women in Hawaii, Vice Chair Caroline Kunitake told the Star-Advertiser.
“Running for office is a job, and we need more people who represent the community,” she said.
Women often shoulder the responsibility for family care, so allowing them to pay for it through campaign funds would help them — without using any public funds, Kunitake said.
Camron Hurt was a single dad who used to teach special education at Kalakaua Intermediate Middle School while his son, now 24, attended Washington Middle School.
If he had been running for office, Hurt said it would have been difficult for him to campaign and serve without child care support and the ability to pay for it.
“I can’t imagine being a candidate while doing child care,” Hurt told the Star-Advertiser.
He now works as program director for Common Cause Hawaii, which supports SB 1202.
SB 1202 would encourage “a diverse pool” of family-oriented candidates, Hurt said.
“We want to encourage family,” he said. “We don’t want our elected leaders to choose between family or candidacy.”
This year, at least 14 out of the state House’s 51 members are raising children in elementary school or are still too young for school.
Several brought their children with them to work at the state Capitol over spring break, when they joined their parents in committee hearings or drew and played games in their parents’ Capitol offices.
Several of the House parents told the Star-Advertiser at the time that they often rely on one another for emergency child care or parenting support through a text chain they call “The Capitol Kids.”
It’s now the 13th legislative session for House Minority Caucus Leader Lauren Matsumoto (R, Mililani-Waipio Acres-Mililani Mauka), who said her children — 7-year-old first grader Noah and 5-year-old preschooler Noelle — have known Matsumoto only as both a mom and as a state legislator, she told the Star-Advertiser over spring break.
But Matsumoto also makes time each week to coach her children’s jiujitsu, soccer and jump rope club practices Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, followed by games on Saturdays.
