May Hill Staffers Advance the Costs of Election Campaigns?
by C. Simon Davidson Q: I work for a Member of the House who has decided not to seek re-election this fall and has hand-picked his preferred replacement. Many of the Members staffers are supporting the replacement, and I have been working on his campaign. To comply with the rules, I work on the campaign only in my spare time, and I make sure never to use official Congressional resources like phones, office space, etc. Last weekend, I picked up $300 worth of campaign signs for an upcoming fundraiser for the candidate. I paid for the signs myself and was immediately reimbursed from campaign funds when I returned to the campaign office. I didnt think anything of it at the time, but when the campaign attorney found out about this today, he said that it was illegal for me to pay for the signs. That doesnt make any sense to me because I was reimbursed. Hes not right, is he? A: No, hes not. However, its not the reimbursement that makes him wrong. Rather, believe it or not, it is the fact that
