I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1623 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for the 

treatment of payments for child care and other personal use services 

as an authorized campaign expenditure, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 7, 2019 

Ms. PORTER introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on House Administration 

A BILL 

To amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to 

provide for the treatment of payments for child care 

and other personal use services as an authorized campaign expenditure, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; FINDINGS; PURPOSE. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Help America Run Act’’. 

6 (b) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
2 

•HR 1623 IH

1 (1) Everyday Americans experience barriers to 

2 entry before they can consider running for office to 

3 serve their communities. 

4 (2) Current law states that campaign funds 

5 cannot be spent on everyday expenses that would 

6 exist whether or not a candidate were running for 

7 office, like rent and food. While the law seems neu8 tral, its actual effect is to privilege the independently 

9 wealthy who want to run, because given the de10 mands of running for office, candidates who must 

11 work to pay for childcare or to afford health insur12 ance are effectively being left out of the process, 

13 even if they have sufficient support to mount a via14 ble campaign. 

15 (3) Thus current practice favors those prospec16 tive candidates who do not need to rely on a regular 

17 paycheck to make ends meet. The consequence is 

18 that everyday Americans who have firsthand knowl19 edge of the importance of stable childcare, a safety 

20 net, or great public schools are less likely to get a 

21 seat at the table. This governance by the few is anti22 thetical to the democratic experiment, but most im23 portantly, when lawmakers do not share the con24 cerns of everyday Americans, their policies reflect 

25 that. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
3 

•HR 1623 IH

1 (4) These circumstances have contributed to a 

2 Congress that does not always reflect everyday 

3 Americans. The New York Times reported in 2019 

4 that fewer than 5 percent of representatives cite 

5 blue-collar or service jobs in their biographies. A 

6 2015 survey by the Center for Responsive Politics 

7 showed that the median net worth of lawmakers was 

8 just over $1 million in 2013, or 18 times the wealth 

9 of the typical American household. 

10 (5) These circumstances have also contributed 

11 to a governing body that does not reflect the nation 

12 it serves. For instance, women are 51 percent of the 

13 American population. Yet even with a record number 

14 of women serving in the One Hundred Sixteenth 

15 Congress, the Pew Research Center notes that more 

16 than three out of four Members of this Congress are 

17 male. The Center for American Women And Politics 

18 found that one third of women legislators surveyed 

19 had been actively discouraged from running for of20 fice, often by political professionals. This type of dis21 couragement, combined with the prohibitions on 

22 using campaign funds for domestic needs like 

23 childcare, burdens that still fall disproportionately 

24 on American women, particularly disadvantages 

25 working mothers. These barriers may explain why 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
4 

•HR 1623 IH

1 only 10 women in history have given birth while 

2 serving in Congress, in spite of the prevalence of 

3 working parents in other professions. Yet working 

4 mothers and fathers are best positioned to create 

5 policy that reflects the lived experience of most 

6 Americans. 

7 (6) Working mothers, those caring for their el8 derly parents, and young professionals who rely on 

9 their jobs for health insurance should have the free10 dom to run to serve the people of the United States. 

11 Their networks and net worth are simply not the 

12 best indicators of their strength as prospective pub13 lic servants. In fact, helping ordinary Americans to 

14 run may create better policy for all Americans. 

15 (c) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to ensure 

16 that all Americans who are otherwise qualified to serve 

17 this Nation are able to run for office, regardless of their 

18 economic status. By expanding permissible uses of cam19 paign funds and providing modest assurance that testing 

20 a run for office will not cost one’s livelihood, the Help 

21 America Run Act will facilitate the candidacy of represent22 atives who more accurately reflect the experiences, chal23 lenges, and ideals of everyday Americans. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
5 

•HR 1623 IH

1 SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE AND 

2 OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AU3 THORIZED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE. 

4 (a) PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED CAM5 PAIGN EXPENDITURE.—Section 313 of the Federal Elec6 tion Campaign Act of 1971 (52 U.S.C. 30114) is amended 

7 by adding at the end the following new subsection: 

8 ‘‘(d) TREATMENT OF PAYMENTS FOR CHILD CARE

9 AND OTHER PERSONAL USE SERVICES AS AUTHORIZED

10 CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURE.— 

11 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZED EXPENDITURES.—For pur12 poses of subsection (a), the payment by an author13 ized committee of a candidate for any of the per14 sonal use services described in paragraph (3) shall 

15 be treated as an authorized expenditure if the serv16 ices are necessary to enable the participation of the 

17 candidate in campaign-connected activities. 

18 ‘‘(2) LIMITATIONS.— 

19 ‘‘(A) LIMIT ON TOTAL AMOUNT OF PAY20 MENTS.—The total amount of payments made 

21 by an authorized committee of a candidate for 

22 personal use services described in paragraph (3) 

23 may not exceed the limit which is applicable 

24 under any law, rule, or regulation on the 

25 amount of payments which may be made by the 

26 committee for the salary of the candidate (withVerDate Sep 11 2014 18:12 Mar 21, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1623.IH H1623

pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
6 

•HR 1623 IH

1 out regard to whether or not the committee 

2 makes payments to the candidate for that pur3 pose). 

4 ‘‘(B) CORRESPONDING REDUCTION IN

5 AMOUNT OF SALARY PAID TO CANDIDATE.—To 

6 the extent that an authorized committee of a 

7 candidate makes payments for the salary of the 

8 candidate, any limit on the amount of such pay9 ments which is applicable under any law, rule, 

10 or regulation shall be reduced by the amount of 

11 any payments made to or on behalf of the can12 didate for personal use services described in 

13 paragraph (3), other than personal use services 

14 described in subparagraph (E) of such para15 graph. 

16 ‘‘(C) EXCLUSION OF CANDIDATES WHO

17 ARE OFFICEHOLDERS.—Paragraph (1) does not 

18 apply with respect to an authorized committee 

19 of a candidate who is a holder of Federal office. 

20 ‘‘(3) PERSONAL USE SERVICES DESCRIBED.— 

21 The personal use services described in this para22 graph are as follows: 

23 ‘‘(A) Child care services. 

24 ‘‘(B) Elder care services. 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS
7 

•HR 1623 IH

1 ‘‘(C) Services similar to the services de2 scribed in subparagraph (A) or subparagraph 

3 (B) which are provided on behalf of any de4 pendent who is a qualifying relative under sec5 tion 152 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 

6 ‘‘(D) Health insurance premiums.’’. 

7 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

8 this section shall take effect on the date of the enactment 

9 of this Act. 

Æ 


pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS