Campaign funds could pay only licensed security guards

California would keep campaign money available for personal protection, but AB 2655 would put a new gate on who can be paid to provide it. The bill would let campaign funds cover security expenses as current law already allows, but only if the security personnel hold the proper Bureau of Security and Investigative Services, the state licensing agency, license.

For candidates, elected officers and the people around them, the practical effect is narrow but real. The money can still be there for security. The question the bill answers is who gets hired with it.

A tighter gate on a known expense

The Political Reform Act already lets campaign funds pay or reimburse security expenses for candidates, elected officers, and their immediate family members or staff. It defines those expenses to include the reasonable costs of providing personal security, and it allows those costs to be covered without a monetary cap until Jan. 1, 2029.

AB 2655 would not end that authority. Instead, it would narrow one part of it by setting a licensing requirement for the people hired to do the work. That keeps the spending category open while adding a professional check on the worker behind the protection.

The people covered by the rule

The bill reaches security for a candidate, an elected officer, and the immediate family or staff of either one, so it affects the circle of people who can draw on campaign money for protection. Assemblymember Avelino Valencia introduced the measure.

Available vote records show the bill advanced without recorded no votes.