Candidates running for office in Hawaiʻi will now be able to use their campaign funds for adult dependent care expenses.
The Hawaiʻi Campaign Spending Commission approved an advisory opinion that says campaign funds can be used to care for elderly relatives or dependents if it is directly related to campaign activities.
Gary Simon with the Hawaiʻi Family Caregiver Coalition requested the opinion from the commission to help lower the bar for caregivers who might want to run for office.
"Lifespans are just increasing rapidly. I mean, you can see it anecdotally where it's now commonplace to see walkers and wheelchairs crossing the street," he said.
"We're all going to be caregivers or care recipients so it will be more in the living vernacular. But as a legislator, it'll give you that wisdom to approach things from an aging lens."
In July, the commission’s opinion allowed campaign funds to be used for child care.
The most recent financial disclosures only go up to Aug. 10. But according to those records, no candidates have used campaign funds for child care yet.
The commission urged stakeholders to push the Legislature to take up the topic and have it codified in the law.
Simon said he is ready to testify in support of the measure.
He hopes that the campaign spending commission’s opinions will give it the momentum it needs to pass this upcoming legislative session.
For the last two years, Sen. Donna Mercado Kim has introduced bills that allow the use of campaign funds for both child care and dependent care.
The bills made it to conference committee — one of the last steps in the legislative process — both years but failed to become law despite support from lawmakers.
“It's one of those measures that doesn't really rise to the top where people get all excited,” Kim said. “It easily gets pushed to the side.”
Kim was a single mom and recalled campaigning while her son, Micah Aiu, was young. Aiu is now a state representative. Kim said she was lucky her parents supported her and could watch him during that time.
“I could go to work with peace of mind knowing that he was being well taken care of. Friends would tell me, 'You're so lucky you have your parents here' because there's a lot of people that don't have their parents,” she said.
“They might be from somewhere else or a neighboring island. ... Many people don't have that.”
Kim also emphasized the need to support caregivers who are not parents but may be taking care of sick or elderly relatives.
“When my mom got really ill, I was helping caregive for her, but I had the resources to be able to handle that,” she said. “If this bill was in effect, it probably wouldn't have affected me, but there are so many other people that are not as fortunate as I was.”
Kim hopes that the Campaign Spending Commission’s opinion would be able to bolster the bill and get it past the finish line this upcoming legislative session.
