Miss. Senators: Senate Should Embrace Electric Filing of Campaign Reports

U.S. Senators Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) today joined in introducing bipartisan legislation that would require Senate candidates to electronically file election reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a change that would save taxpayers and improve transparency.

The Senate Campaign Disclosure Disparity Act (S.366) was authored by Senators Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Cochran to require Senate campaigns to file campaign finance reports directly with the FEC electronically rather than first filing paper copies with the Secretary of the Senate. Senate campaign committees are the only federal political committees not obliged to file reports and statements electronically with the FEC directly.

"The Senate should avail itself of 21st century technology to file campaign reports. Using electronic filing would improve efficiency, cut spending and allow the public to see this information in a timelier manner," Cochran said. "I will work to have this commonsense, bipartisan legislation considered this year."

"The electronic filing of campaign reports would provide a simple, streamlined approach that is long overdue," Wicker said. "The Senate should update its rules to keep up with the times. I applaud Sen. Cochran for his continued leadership on this issue, and I am hopeful it will come before the full Senate soon."

The Congressional Budget Office has indicated previously that this change would save taxpayers an estimated $500,000 by eliminating the current requirement that Senate candidates file campaign-related reports in paper form with the Secretary of the Senate. Those paper reports are copied by the Secretary of the Senate and delivered in hard-copy form to the FEC, whose employees must manually input the material into digital form to make the information accessible to the public.

The Senate bill would put Senate candidates on par with House, presidential candidates, non-Senate party committees, PACs and 527 organizations that have filed electronically with the FEC since 2001.

S.366 cosponsored by Wicker and 30 other Senators. It has been referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, which approved similar legislation last year and on which both Cochran and Wicker serve.

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