Lori Berman files bill to let candidates spend campaign funds on child care

Image via Lori Berman.

Boynton Beach Democratic Sen. Lori Berman hopes to make it easier for parents to run for public office, filing a bill (SB 72) to allow candidates to use campaign funds for child care costs.

Thirty-eight states and Washington, D.C., already authorize the use of campaign funds for child care, according to the Vote Mama Foundation. Berman said Florida lawmakers should add the Sunshine State to the list.

“It’s a great idea, and I think Florida should join the majority of states in allowing that as an expense for campaigns,” she told Florida Politics on Monday.

“We want to encourage women to run for office, and certainly this takes away the burden for women to have to pay for child care while doing so.”

Berman said fathers could also take advantage of the allowance. The U.S. Census Bureau found in 2022 that 80% of one-parent family groups were maintained by a mother.

As currently written, the measure would only let candidates use campaign dollars to cover child care expenses if those expenses wouldn’t exist if not for the candidate’s campaign.

Campaign funds wouldn’t be able to be used to defray the candidate’s or their family’s normal living expenditures. The money also couldn’t go toward child care expenses unrelated to campaign activities like personal errands or “routine child care unrelated to campaigning.”

Further, the candidate would have to provide the Division of Elections with “clear records of all child care expenses reimbursed by campaign funds” and keep receipts or invoices for all such spending for at least three years after the campaign ends.

Candidate and political committee expense reports would also have to include and denote when, where and how candidates use funds for child care expenses.

If passed, Berman’s bill would go into effect on July 1.

So far, no House analog has been filed.

Berman has introduced four bills so far for the 2025 Legislative Session. All focus on children and families. Her other bills include SB 76, which would require 12 weeks of paid parental leave for state employees; SB 74, which would establish a universal free breakfast and lunch program for public school students; and SB 70, which would increase the number of instructional hours in voluntary prekindergarten programs.

A state lawmaker since 2010 and a member of the Senate since 2018, Berman has made children and families a major focus of her legislative efforts. Her successful legislation includes the “Cassie Carli Law” to protect at-risk parents during child custody exchanges, a law requiring courtrooms to provide nursing spaces for new mothers and “Greyson’s Law” to better safeguard children at risk of parental harm.

She also got the “Safe Waterways Act” across the finish line in March with support from House sponsor Peggy Gossett-Seidman, a Highland Park Republican. But Gov. Ron DeSantis later vetoed the measure, which was meant to streamline the state’s reporting process following a contamination of public waters.

Last month, Senate President Ben Albritton assigned Berman as Vice Chair of the Appropriations Committee on Agriculture, Environmental and General Government.

Interim committee meetings for the 2025 Legislative Session began in the House on Monday and will commence in the Senate next week.

The Regular Session runs from March 4 to May 2.