Tester’s bill to shine a light on election spending with quicker public reports set to become law
Bill would save taxpayers $900,000 annually
Washington, D.C. — End Citizens United (ECU) today congratulated Senator Jon Tester, who is on the cusp of passing his Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act into law. The bill will require Senate candidates to electronically file campaign finance reports. The bill has been included in the final conference agreement for the first minibus appropriations package, H.R. 5895 (115).
“Jon Tester has fought relentlessly to make this common sense, good government change that will shine a light on money in politics,” said End Citizens United President Tiffany Muller. “The public has a right to know who’s trying to influence and buy our elections. There’s no reason candidates running for Senate should be able to hide important disclosures for days or weeks. Senator Tester has been a champion for transparency and we thank him for his work.”
Unlike candidates for the House of Representatives, U.S. Senate candidates are not obligated to file campaign finance reports electronically. Instead, most submit paper copy reports to the Secretary of the Senate, which delays public reports, and most importantly, keeps voters in the dark about who is funding their campaigns. Tester’s bipartisan bill would bring archaic Senate rules into the 21st century and add much needed transparency to campaign finance reporting.
According to an estimate from the Congressional Budget Office, Tester’s electronic filing bill would save taxpayers $900,000 annually. The Federal Election Commission, an agency tasked with upholding the integrity of U.S. elections, has praised electronic filing.
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