PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) – The Rhode Island Senate has approved a bill to allow political candidates to use campaign funds for child care while they are participating in elections activities.
The Senate passed the measure Wednesday and referred it to the House Judiciary Committee Thursday.
Democratic Sen. Gayle Goldin, of Providence, modeled it after a 2018 decision by the Federal Election Commission, allowing Democratic congressional candidate Liuba Grechen Shirley to use political funds to hire a sitter. She was the first female candidate for federal office allowed to use campaign funds to pay for child care.
Grechen Shirley lost in November in New York to Republican U.S. Rep. Peter King.
Goldin says child care expenses are a roadblock that excludes people from running for office if their family isn’t wealthy enough to afford them.
