Senate transparency push gets new GOP allies
A bipartisan group of lawmakers will soon float a bill requiring U.S. Senate candidates to electronically file campaign finance documents, the Center for Public Integrity has learned.
Known as the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act, the bill — which the Congressional Budget Office estimates could save taxpayers about $500,000 a year — aims to sync the Senate with what’s currently required for U.S. House candidates, presidential candidates and political action committees.
But like previous iterations of the bill, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act is likely to die an unceremonious death, buried in the docket of a Senate subcommittee. That’s because Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has previously stymied the legislation, and now as Senate majority leader, his power to shape legislative priorities is stronger than ever.
Nevertheless, supporters of the bill hope to win over converts.
“For too long, senators have hidden behind an outdated filing system that wastes taxpayers’ money and isn’t transparent,” Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who will be the bill’s chief sponsor, said in a statement.
“Transparency in politics and saving taxpayers’ money is not a partisan issue,” Tester added. “This is a commonsense step that will improve our broken campaign finance system.”
Already, Tester has earned a few new allies.
At least three of the 12 newly elected Republican senators tell the Center for Public Integrity they’re sympathetic, as is Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., the sole new Democratic freshman senator.
“It’s time to bring Senate campaign reporting into the 21st century,” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said in a statement.
Gardner added that it was “long past time for the Senate to be held to the same standard” as the U.S. House of Representatives, where Gardner previously served for four years and where candidates must, by law, e-file their campaign finance reports.
Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., will also be supporting the new e-filing legislation.
“This bill is a commonsense measure to increase transparency and ensure that taxpayer dollars are used more effectively,” said Daines spokeswoman Alee Lockman.
Related: Senate power players quarrel over fate of e-filing
There’s more to this story. Click here to read the rest at the Center for Public Integrity.
This story is part of Primary Source. Primary Source keeps you up-to-date on developments in the post-Citizens United world of money in politics. Click here to read more stories in this blog.
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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.
