Iowa candidates cannot use campaign money for child care, ethics board rules

Kim Norvell | The Des Moines Register

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Candidates running for office in Iowa cannot use campaign money to pay for child care, according to the Iowa Ethics & Campaign Disclosure Board.

Reyma McCoy McDeid in May requested permission to use money she raised in her run for the Iowa House of Representatives to pay child care expenses incurred while campaigning.

But the ethics board ruled Friday that because Iowa law does not clearly allow campaign funds to be used for child care, the issue is "a policy decision best left to the Legislature."

The Iowa Code says candidates cannot use campaign money for personal expenses. The Iowa ethics board said child care expenses could be considered a personal expense, but also could be considered an expense for campaign purposes.

That ambiguity should be clarified by state lawmakers, the ruling says.

"It is not unusual for candidates to make financial sacrifices in order to run for office," the ruling says. "Some candidates quit their jobs or reduce their work hours in order to campaign or serve in office."

McCoy McDeid filed her request less than a week after the Federal Election Commission said candidates for federal office can use their campaign funds for child care.

The single mother said on Facebook that the board's ruling "truly feels like the final coffin nail in my doomed campaign."

McCoy McDeid, a Democratic, lost a June 5 primary to Heather Matson in House District 38, which includes portions of Ankeny and northern Polk County. Matson will face Republican Kevin Koester in the November election.

"It's truly been an honor to try — and spectacularly fail in such a public manner — to make a place for normal, everyday people in state office here in Iowa," McCoy McDeid wrote.