Yes, the partisan and gridlocked NYS Board of Elections ruled that spending campaign cash on junkets is permissible as long as the campaign funds only pay a portion (50%, 75%, 99%?) of the related expenses and pols document receipts. It was a pipe dream, if goo-goos thought the BOE would establish a ban.
The NY Post reported:
“Political candidates can use campaign funds to pay for trips that mix business and pleasure, the state Board of Elections has ruled.
In contentious voting Tuesday, board members voted to allow funds to be used on such mixed junkets, providing that expenses are broken down and campaign funds pay only for a portion of the trip.
Although it wasn’t immediately clear how the costs would be divided, critics predicted the worst.
“They’re going to use that [ruling] for airfare and lodging,” one detractor at the meeting griped.
Barbara Bartoletti of the League of Women Voters said the board’s actions “leave a very gray area for personal use of campaign funds.”
“We ought to ban it,” she said. “Ban it! If you’re going on a junket, use your own money.”
Read more here >> http://nypost.com/2015/09/02/new-campaign-leisure-spending-ruling-leaves-gray-area/
