EAO 189

For purposes of section 251.008 of the Election Code, expenses “in connection with” a speaker’s appearance before a club include expenditures for meals, a meeting room, insurance for the meeting, decorations, food, advertising, and travel expenses. If the speaker makes use of the travel provided by the club to engage in other campaign activity, a reasonably apportioned amount of the travel expenses would be a campaign contribution to the candidate.