Lobbying Disclosure
Congress and the Executive Branch should focus on making the work of lobbyists and other paid influencers more transparent.
Money in Politics Disclosure
To uncover the levers of access and influence in Congress and the White House, real time online disclosure of money in politics must become the standard.
- Enact Legislation to Disclose Dark Money in Elections
- Appoint FEC Commissioners Committed to Transparency
- The IRS Should Tighten and Enforce Rules Regarding Electioneering Activities of Nonprofits
- The SEC Should Require Companies to Disclose Political Spending
- Improve the FCC's Political File Database
- Mandate Disclosure of Tax Returns and Bundlers by Presidential Candidates
- Enact Legislation to Disclose Corporate Political Spending to Shareholders
- Require Senators to Electronically File Campaign Finance Disclosure Reports
Government Data
There is a wealth of government data that must be made accessible to the public.
- Create an Index of Federal Agencies' Major Datasets
- Enact the Public Online Information Act
- Enact the Access to Congressionally Mandated Reports Act
- Make Congressional Research Service Reports Publicly Available
- Implement the Digital Accountability and Transparency Act
- Adopt FOIA Reforms
- Review the Personal Financial Disclosure System
- Report Earmark Requests from Congress Online
Require Senators to Electronically File Campaign Finance Disclosure Reports
The Senate must enact legislation, introduced in the 113th Congress as the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.375), requiring Senate candidates to electronically file their campaign finance disclosure reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Background
Public access to crucial information about senate campaign contributions and expenditures is delayed, sometimes until after an election has taken place, due to archaic Senate rules. Senators’ counterparts in the House, presidential candidates and PACs all electronically file their campaign finance reports. Senators, on the other hand, remain mired in a system in which they file digital quarterly reports with the Secretary of the Senate, who then prints them out and delivers them to the FEC. That agency then inputs the information into its computer databases so it can be publicly viewed online, at annual cost of $430,000 of taxpayer money.
Electronic filing of Senate campaign finance disclosure reports is a common sense, cost-saving measure that would provide the public with timely, accurate and important campaign finance information.
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