John Hult/South Dakota Searchlight
South Dakota’s attorney general issued an opinion Tuesday saying that candidates for office and elected officials can use campaign funds to pay child care and security costs under some circumstances.
Marty Jackley’s official opinion came in response to a question on the issue from Democratic Senate Minority Leader Liz Larson of Sioux Falls.
State law doesn’t “forbid or permit” the use of campaign funds for security or child care, Jackley’s opinion says, but there are broad outlines on what constitutes acceptable uses.
Campaign money can be spent on things directly related to a campaign, “incident to being a public official” or former public official, or donated to other campaigns or campaign committees, the opinion says.
State laws offer “broad descriptions” on what constitutes campaign activity, which Jackley says was intentional and meant to avoid excluding some activities those laws’ authors may not have considered.
The Federal Election Commission, he notes in the opinion, “explicitly permits candidates for federal office to use campaign contributions for childcare expenses incurred during the candidate’s political campaign.”
“As of the date of this letter, fifteen states have enacted similar laws,” the opinion says.
“These states, including our neighbors Minnesota and Montana, permit a candidate to use campaign funds to pay reasonable and necessary childcare or dependent care expenses incurred because of the campaign.”
A smaller number of states, he wrote, now recognize security spending as an acceptable use of funds.
Jackley concluded that such expenses may be permissible “so long as there is a clear nexus to the campaign or office and are not for personal benefit.”
“The Legislature has the power to create and revise statutes and has the duty to clarify the relevant statutes if desired,” Jackley wrote.
Senator: Clarity request born of safety concerns
Security was the primary reason for the request, Larson said. Concerns over the safety of candidates have grown since the killing last year of Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Larson said. The man who killed the Hortmans shot and wounded Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife the same day.
“This is a dangerous role that we’re playing at certain times,” Larson said. “So we want a clarification on that.”
Security spending wouldn’t necessarily take the form of paid security guards, Larson said, although it could. Campaign funds could be used to pay for more basic security features like deadbolts at campaign offices or surveillance cameras.
“We’re not governor-level,” Larson said of state lawmakers. “We don’t need a full entourage. But sometimes there are things that you want to have taken care of.”
Wrapping child care into the request for clarification made sense, Larson said, as that’s become a more common question around the country for parents who aim for political office.
Former Democratic Sen. Reynold Nesiba of Sioux Falls brought a bill to legalize the use of campaign dollars for child care in 2024, with Larson as a co-sponsor. The Senate State Affairs Committee rejected that bill 8-1.