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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 60
2025-2026
Representatives Humphrey, Williams
Cosponsors: Representatives Russo,
Upchurch, Lett, Brewer, Jarrells, Rogers, Brennan, Sigrist,
Synenberg, Piccolantonio, Rader, Baker, Brent
A
BILL
To
amend section 3517.13 of the Revised Code
to
allow a candidate to use campaign funds to pay certain child care
costs.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
section 3517.13 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
3517.13.
(A)(1)
No campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall fail to file a
complete and accurate statement required under division (A)(1) of
section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(2)
No campaign committee of a statewide candidate shall fail to file a
complete and accurate monthly statement, and no campaign committee of
a statewide candidate or a candidate for the office of chief justice
or justice of the supreme court shall fail to file a complete and
accurate two-business-day statement, as required under section
3517.10 of the Revised Code.
As
used in this division, "statewide candidate" has the same
meaning as in division (F)(2) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(B)
No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate
statement required under division (A)(1) of section 3517.10 of the
Revised Code.
(C)
No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate
statement required under division (A)(2) of section 3517.10 of the
Revised Code.
(D)
No campaign committee shall fail to file a complete and accurate
statement required under division (A)(3) or (4) of section 3517.10 of
the Revised Code.
(E)
No person other than a campaign committee shall knowingly fail to
file a statement required under section 3517.10 or 3517.107 of the
Revised Code.
(F)
No person shall make cash contributions to any person totaling more
than one hundred dollars in each primary, special, or general
election.
(G)(1)
No person shall knowingly conceal or misrepresent contributions given
or received, expenditures made, or any other information required to
be reported by a provision in sections 3517.08 to 3517.13 of the
Revised Code.
(2)(a)
No person shall make a contribution to a campaign committee,
political action committee, political contributing entity,
legislative campaign fund, political party, or person making
disbursements to pay the direct costs of producing or airing
electioneering communications in the name of another person.
(b)
A person does not make a contribution in the name of another when
either of the following applies:
(i)
An individual makes a contribution from a partnership or other
unincorporated business account, if the contribution is reported by
listing both the name of the partnership or other unincorporated
business and the name of the partner or owner making the contribution
as required under division (I) of section 3517.10 of the Revised
Code.
(ii)
A person makes a contribution in that person's spouse's name or in
both of their names.
(H)
No person within this state, publishing a newspaper or other
periodical, shall charge a campaign committee for political
advertising a rate in excess of the rate such person would charge if
the campaign committee were a general rate advertiser whose
advertising was directed to promoting its business within the same
area as that encompassed by the particular office that the candidate
of the campaign committee is seeking. The rate shall take into
account the amount of space used, as well as the type of advertising
copy submitted by or on behalf of the campaign committee. All
discount privileges otherwise offered by a newspaper or periodical to
general rate advertisers shall be available upon equal terms to all
campaign committees.
No
person within this state, operating a radio or television station or
network of stations in this state, shall charge a campaign committee
for political broadcasts a rate that exceeds:
(1)
During the forty-five days preceding the date of a primary election
and during the sixty days preceding the date of a general or special
election in which the candidate of the campaign committee is seeking
office, the lowest unit charge of the station for the same class and
amount of time for the same period;
(2)
At any other time, the charges made for comparable use of that
station by its other users.
(I)
Subject to divisions (K), (L), (M), and (N) of this section, no
agency or department of this state or any political subdivision shall
award any contract, other than one let by competitive bidding or a
contract incidental to such contract or which is by force account,
for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or
services costing more than five hundred dollars to any individual,
partnership, association, including, without limitation, a
professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised
Code, estate, or trust if the individual has made or the individual's
spouse has made, or any partner, shareholder, administrator,
executor, or trustee or the spouse of any of them has made, as an
individual, within the two previous calendar years, one or more
contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars to the
holder of the public office having ultimate responsibility for the
award of the contract or to the public officer's campaign committee.
(J)
Subject to divisions (K), (L), (M), and (N) of this section, no
agency or department of this state or any political subdivision shall
award any contract, other than one let by competitive bidding or a
contract incidental to such contract or which is by force account,
for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or
services costing more than five hundred dollars to a corporation or
business trust, except a professional association organized under
Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, if an owner of more than twenty
per cent of the corporation or business trust or the spouse of that
person has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar
years, taking into consideration only owners for all of that period,
one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars
to the holder of a public office having ultimate responsibility for
the award of the contract or to the public officer's campaign
committee.
(K)
For purposes of divisions (I) and (J) of this section, if a public
officer who is responsible for the award of a contract is appointed
by the governor, whether or not the appointment is subject to the
advice and consent of the senate, excluding members of boards,
commissions, committees, authorities, councils, boards of trustees,
task forces, and other such entities appointed by the governor, the
office of the governor is considered to have ultimate responsibility
for the award of the contract.
(L)
For purposes of divisions (I) and (J) of this section, if a public
officer who is responsible for the award of a contract is appointed
by the elected chief executive officer of a municipal corporation, or
appointed by the elected chief executive officer of a county
operating under an alternative form of county government or county
charter, excluding members of boards, commissions, committees,
authorities, councils, boards of trustees, task forces, and other
such entities appointed by the chief executive officer, the office of
the chief executive officer is considered to have ultimate
responsibility for the award of the contract.
(M)(1)
Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to contracts
awarded by the board of commissioners of the sinking fund, municipal
legislative authorities, boards of education, boards of county
commissioners, boards of township trustees, or other boards,
commissions, committees, authorities, councils, boards of trustees,
task forces, and other such entities created by law, by the supreme
court or courts of appeals, by county courts consisting of more than
one judge, courts of common pleas consisting of more than one judge,
or municipal courts consisting of more than one judge, or by a
division of any court if the division consists of more than one
judge. This division shall apply to the specified entity only if the
members of the entity act collectively in the award of a contract for
goods or services.
(2)
Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to actions of the
controlling board.
(N)(1)
Divisions (I) and (J) of this section apply to contributions made to
the holder of a public office having ultimate responsibility for the
award of a contract, or to the public officer's campaign committee,
during the time the person holds the office and during any time such
person was a candidate for the office. Those divisions do not apply
to contributions made to, or to the campaign committee of, a
candidate for or holder of the office other than the holder of the
office at the time of the award of the contract.
(2)
Divisions (I) and (J) of this section do not apply to contributions
of a partner, shareholder, administrator, executor, trustee, or owner
of more than twenty per cent of a corporation or business trust made
before the person held any of those positions or after the person
ceased to hold any of those positions in the partnership,
association, estate, trust, corporation, or business trust whose
eligibility to be awarded a contract is being determined, nor to
contributions of the person's spouse made before the person held any
of those positions, after the person ceased to hold any of those
positions, before the two were married, after the granting of a
decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment, or after
the granting of an order in an action brought solely for legal
separation. Those divisions do not apply to contributions of the
spouse of an individual whose eligibility to be awarded a contract is
being determined made before the two were married, after the granting
of a decree of divorce, dissolution of marriage, or annulment, or
after the granting of an order in an action brought solely for legal
separation.
(O)
No beneficiary of a campaign fund or other person shall convert for
personal use, and no person shall knowingly give to a beneficiary of
a campaign fund or any other person, for the beneficiary's or any
other person's personal use, anything of value from the beneficiary's
campaign fund, including, without limitation, payments to a
beneficiary for services the beneficiary personally performs, except
as reimbursement for any of the following:
(1)
Legitimate and verifiable prior campaign expenses incurred by the
beneficiary;
(2)
Legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary prior expenses
incurred by the beneficiary in connection with duties as the holder
of a public office, including, without limitation, expenses incurred
through participation in nonpartisan or bipartisan events if the
participation of the holder of a public office would normally be
expected;
(3)
Legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary prior expenses
incurred by the beneficiary while doing any of the following:
(a)
Engaging in activities in support of or opposition to a candidate
other than the beneficiary, political party, or ballot issue;
(b)
Raising funds for a political party, political action committee,
political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, campaign
committee, or other candidate;
(c)
Participating in the activities of a political party, political
action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign
fund, or campaign committee;
(d)
Attending a political party convention or other political meeting.
For
purposes of this division, an expense is incurred whenever a
beneficiary has either made payment or is obligated to make payment,
as by the use of a credit card or other credit procedure or by the
use of goods or services received on account.
(P)
No beneficiary of a campaign fund shall knowingly accept, and no
person shall knowingly give to the beneficiary of a campaign fund,
reimbursement for an expense under division (O) of this section to
the extent that the expense previously was reimbursed or paid from
another source of funds. If an expense is reimbursed under division
(O) of this section and is later paid or reimbursed, wholly or in
part, from another source of funds, the beneficiary shall repay the
reimbursement received under division (O) of this section to the
extent of the payment made or reimbursement received from the other
source.
(Q)
No candidate or public official or employee shall accept for personal
or business use anything of value from a political party, political
action committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign
fund, or campaign committee other than the candidate's or public
official's or employee's own campaign committee, and no person shall
knowingly give to a candidate or public official or employee anything
of value from a political party, political action committee,
political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, or such a
campaign committee, except for the following:
(1)
Reimbursement for legitimate and verifiable ordinary and necessary
prior expenses not otherwise prohibited by law incurred by the
candidate or public official or employee while engaged in any
legitimate activity of the political party, political action
committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund,
or such campaign committee. Without limitation, reimbursable expenses
under this division include those incurred while doing any of the
following:
(a)
Engaging in activities in support of or opposition to another
candidate, political party, or ballot issue;
(b)
Raising funds for a political party, legislative campaign fund,
campaign committee, or another candidate;
(c)
Attending a political party convention or other political meeting.
(2)
Compensation not otherwise prohibited by law for actual and valuable
personal services rendered under a written contract to the political
party, political action committee, political contributing entity,
legislative campaign fund, or such campaign committee for any
legitimate activity of the political party, political action
committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund,
or such campaign committee.
Reimbursable
expenses under this division do not include, and it is a violation of
this division for a candidate or public official or employee to
accept, or for any person to knowingly give to a candidate or public
official or employee from a political party, political action
committee, political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund,
or campaign committee other than the candidate's or public official's
or employee's own campaign committee, anything of value for
activities primarily related to the candidate's or public official's
or employee's own campaign for election, except for contributions to
the candidate's or public official's or employee's campaign
committee.
For
purposes of this division, an expense is incurred whenever a
candidate or public official or employee has either made payment or
is obligated to make payment, as by the use of a credit card or other
credit procedure, or by the use of goods or services on account.
(R)(1)
Division (O) or (P) of this section does not prohibit a campaign
committee from making direct advance or post payment from
contributions to vendors for goods and services for which
reimbursement is permitted under division (O) of this section, except
that no campaign committee shall pay its candidate or other
beneficiary for services personally performed by the candidate or
other beneficiary.
(2)
If any expense that may be reimbursed under division (O), (P), or (Q)
of this section is part of other expenses that may not be paid or
reimbursed, the separation of the two types of expenses for the
purpose of allocating for payment or reimbursement those expenses
that may be paid or reimbursed may be by any reasonable accounting
method, considering all of the surrounding circumstances.
(3)
For purposes of divisions (O), (P), and (Q) of this section, mileage
allowance at a rate not greater than that allowed by the internal
revenue service at the time the travel occurs may be paid instead of
reimbursement for actual travel expenses allowable.
(4)
For purposes of divisions (O), (P), and (Q) of this section, the cost
of child care provided by a person licensed to provide child care
under Chapter 5104. of the Revised Code is considered an ordinary and
necessary expense incurred by a beneficiary while engaging in the
activities and duties described in those divisions, so long as the
cost is incurred only as a direct result of the beneficiary engaging
in those activities and duties and would not otherwise be incurred.
(S)(1)
As used in division (S) of this section:
(a)
"State elective office" has the same meaning as in section
3517.092 of the Revised Code.
(b)
"Federal office" means a federal office as defined in the
Federal Election Campaign Act.
(c)
"Federal campaign committee" means a principal campaign
committee or authorized committee as defined in the Federal Election
Campaign Act.
(2)
No person who is a candidate for state elective office and who
previously sought nomination or election to a federal office shall
transfer any funds or assets from that person's federal campaign
committee for nomination or election to the federal office to that
person's campaign committee as a candidate for state elective office.
(3)
No campaign committee of a person who is a candidate for state
elective office and who previously sought nomination or election to a
federal office shall accept any funds or assets from that person's
federal campaign committee for that person's nomination or election
to the federal office.
(T)(1)
Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(6)(c) of section
3517.102 of the Revised Code, a state or county political party shall
not disburse moneys from any account other than a state candidate
fund to make contributions to any of the following:
(a)
A state candidate fund;
(b)
A legislative campaign fund;
(c)
A campaign committee of a candidate for the office of governor,
lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor of state, treasurer
of state, attorney general, member of the state board of education,
or member of the general assembly.
(2)
No state candidate fund, legislative campaign fund, or campaign
committee of a candidate for any office described in division
(T)(1)(c) of this section shall knowingly accept a contribution in
violation of division (T)(1) of this section.
(U)
No person shall fail to file a statement required under section
3517.12 of the Revised Code.
(V)
No campaign committee shall fail to file a statement required under
division (K)(3) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.
(W)(1)
No foreign national shall, directly or indirectly through any other
person or entity, make a contribution, expenditure, or independent
expenditure or promise, either expressly or implicitly, to make a
contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in support of
or opposition to a candidate for any elective office in this state,
including an office of a political party.
(2)
No candidate, campaign committee, political action committee,
political contributing entity, legislative campaign fund, state
candidate fund, political party, or separate segregated fund shall
solicit or accept a contribution, expenditure, or independent
expenditure from a foreign national. The secretary of state may
direct any candidate, committee, entity, fund, or party that accepts
a contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure in violation
of this division to return the contribution, expenditure, or
independent expenditure or, if it is not possible to return the
contribution, expenditure, or independent expenditure, then to return
instead the value of it, to the contributor.
(3)
As used in division (W) of this section, "foreign national"
has the same meaning as in section 441e(b) of the Federal Election
Campaign Act.
(X)(1)
No state or county political party shall transfer any moneys from its
restricted fund to any account of the political party into which
contributions may be made or from which contributions or expenditures
may be made.
(2)(a)
No state or county political party shall deposit a contribution or
contributions that it receives into its restricted fund.
(b)
No state or county political party shall make a contribution or an
expenditure from its restricted fund.
(3)(a)
No corporation or labor organization shall make a gift or gifts from
the corporation's or labor organization's money or property
aggregating more than ten thousand dollars to any one state or county
political party for the party's restricted fund in a calendar year.
(b)
No state or county political party shall accept a gift or gifts for
the party's restricted fund aggregating more than ten thousand
dollars from any one corporation or labor organization in a calendar
year.
(4)
No state or county political party shall transfer any moneys in the
party's restricted fund to any other state or county political party.
(5)
No state or county political party shall knowingly fail to file a
statement required under section 3517.1012 of the Revised Code.
(Y)
The administrator of workers' compensation and the employees of the
bureau of workers' compensation shall not conduct any business with
or award any contract, other than one awarded by competitive bidding,
for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or
services costing more than five hundred dollars to any individual,
partnership, association, including, without limitation, a
professional association organized under Chapter 1785. of the Revised
Code, estate, or trust, if the individual has made, or the
individual's spouse has made, or any partner, shareholder,
administrator, executor, or trustee, or the spouses of any of those
individuals has made, as an individual, within the two previous
calendar years, one or more contributions totaling in excess of one
thousand dollars to the campaign committee of the governor or
lieutenant governor or to the campaign committee of any candidate for
the office of governor or lieutenant governor.
(Z)
The administrator of workers' compensation and the employees of the
bureau of workers' compensation shall not conduct business with or
award any contract, other than one awarded by competitive bidding,
for the purchase of goods costing more than five hundred dollars or
services costing more than five hundred dollars to a corporation or
business trust, except a professional association organized under
Chapter 1785. of the Revised Code, if an owner of more than twenty
per cent of the corporation or business trust, or the spouse of the
owner, has made, as an individual, within the two previous calendar
years, taking into consideration only owners for all of such period,
one or more contributions totaling in excess of one thousand dollars
to the campaign committee of the governor or lieutenant governor or
to the campaign committee of any candidate for the office of governor
or lieutenant governor.
Section
2.
That
existing section 3517.13 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.