Political committees may pay for certain candidate security measures

Political committees may pay certain security expenses for a candidate. The expenses must be for a candidate, including a candidate who is an elected official. The expenses must relate to the candidate’s safety and connect to the candidate’s activities, duties, or status as a candidate or elected official. They may cover reasonable security measures needed to address a risk arising from that status, including home or office systems and personal security. Firearms are excluded.

The Commissioner must issue rules for reporting security expenses. The rules concern security expenses reported as authorized campaign spending. The rules must require campaign reports to provide enough detail to show that the security expenses are authorized campaign spending. The Commissioner must issue the rules within three months after enactment.