Notwithstanding Sections 89512 and 89513, this section governs the use of campaign funds for vehicle expenses.
(a) Campaign funds shall not be used to purchase a vehicle unless both of the following apply:
(1) Title to the vehicle is held by the committee and not the candidate, elected officer, campaign treasurer, or any other individual or individuals with authority to approve the expenditure of campaign funds held by a committee, or an immediate family member of one of those individuals.
(2) The use of the vehicle is directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose.
(b) Campaign funds shall not be used to lease a vehicle unless both of the following apply:
(1) The lessee is the committee, or a state or local government agency and not the candidate, elected officer, or an immediate family member of the candidate or elected official; or the lessor is a state or local government agency.
(2) The use of the vehicle is directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose.
(c) Campaign funds may be used to pay for or reimburse the operating costs, including, but not limited to, insurance, maintenance, and repairs, for any vehicle for which campaign funds may be spent pursuant to this section.
(d) Campaign funds may be used to reimburse a candidate, elected officer, a candidate’s or elected officer’s immediate family, or any individual or individuals with authority to approve the expenditure of campaign funds held by a committee, or an employee or member of the staff of the committee or of the elected officer’s governmental agency, for the use of that individual’s vehicle at the rate approved by the Internal Revenue Service pursuant to Section 162 of the Internal Revenue Code in connection with deductible mileage expenses under the federal income tax law, if both of the following requirements are met:
(1) The vehicle use for which reimbursement is sought is directly related to political, governmental, or legislative purposes.
(2) The specific purpose and mileage in connection with each expenditure is documented in a manner approved by the Internal Revenue Service in connection with deductible mileage expenses.
(e) For the purposes of this section, use of a vehicle is considered to be directly related to a political, legislative, or governmental purpose as long as its use for other purposes is only incidental to its use for political, legislative, or governmental purposes.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 50, Sec. 228. (AB 378) Effective January 1, 2022.)