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TO AMEND SECTION 8-13-1348, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS FOR PERSONAL EXPENSES, SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT A CANDIDATE MAY USE CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO PAY REASONABLE CHILDCARE EXPENSES THAT ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY AND THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCURRED BY THE CANDIDATE BUT FOR THE CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY, AND THE USE OF CAMPAIGN FUNDS TO PAY REASONABLE CHILDCARE EXPENSES THAT ARE THE DIRECT RESULT OF CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY AND THAT WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN INCURRED BY THE CANDIDATE BUT FOR THE CAMPAIGN ACTIVITY MAY NOT BE CONSTRUED TO CONSTITUTE A PERSONAL EXPENSE, AND TO DEFINE "CHILDCARE EXPENSES".
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 8-13-1348(A) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(A)(1) No candidate, committee, public official, or political party may use campaign funds to defray personal expenses which are unrelated to the campaign or the office if the candidate is an officeholder nor may these funds be converted to personal use. The prohibition of this subsection does not extend to the incidental personal use of campaign materials or equipment nor to an expenditure used to defray any ordinary expenses incurred in connection with an individual's duties as a holder of elective office. A candidate may use campaign funds to pay reasonable and necessary childcare expenses that are the direct result of campaign activity and that would not have been incurred by the candidate but for the campaign activity. The use of campaign funds to pay reasonable childcare expenses that are the direct result of campaign activity and that would not have been incurred by the candidate but for the campaign activity may not be construed to constitute a personal expense.
(2) For purposes of this subsection, 'childcare expenses' means the reasonable costs of professional daycare services, babysitting, nannying services, food and beverages, transportation to and from the location of a childcare services provider, before and after school programs, summer day camps, and preschool. Additional qualifying expenses include costs related to a nurse, home care provider or other care provider for a disabled dependent child. 'Childcare expenses' do not include private school tuition, medical expenses, tutoring services, or payments to a relative, within the third degree of consanguinity of a child, unless the relative owns or operates a professional daycare or babysitting service and the cost of the service is no greater than the relative would charge otherwise."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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