Campaign Finance E-Filing Bill Is Back
Sens. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Charles Schumer, D-N.Y, reintroduced legislation Thursday to require the electronic disclosure of Senate campaign finance reports. The bill is identical to legislation that Feingold sponsored in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses, and that was approved by the Senate Rules Committee in 2007. The measure would bring Senate rules in line with those already in place for presidential candidates, House candidates and political action committees, officials said. The Campaign Finance Institute estimates the bill could save taxpayers $250,000 per year. "This commonsense bill to make our electoral system more transparent is long overdue," Feingold said in a press release.
Under the legislation, the reports would have to be filed electronically and forwarded to the FEC within 24 hours. The FEC is required to make available on the Internet within 24 hours any filing it receives electronically. Because of the FEC's detailed coding, which allows for more sophisticated searches and analysis, paper filing is currently completed over a week later for Senate reports than for House reports. "The Senate should catch up with the House, the president, and the many senators who already voluntarily file electronically by passing this reform which has broad bipartisan support." Schumer, who chairs the Rules Committee, called the proposal a "no-brainer" and said it should be approved expeditiously.
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