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Advocacy Blog
Tuesday, August 05, 2008
Pass S.223!
A new web site has been set up, Pass223.com, to gain support for the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S. 223) with the hopes that it will eventually be approved by the Senate. S.223 would require senators to file their contribution reports electronically.
Currently, presidential candidates and candidates running for the House of Representatives file their campaign contributions in electronic form. Electronic filing speeds the process by which campaign contribution data reaches the public over the Internet, allowing citizens and journalists to more easily spot a conflict of interest or an inappropriate contribution. Filers in the Senate do not file electronically, delaying disclosure by weeks and possibly months.
Senator John Ensign (R-AZ) continues to block the bill by insisting on adding an amendment that would force charities, religious organizations and other nonprofits to disclose their donors when they file ethics complaints against senators. OMB Watch supports S.223 and recognizes that in order for it to pass, Ensign's amendment must be removed.
By going to Pass223.com you can find out instructions on how to call your senators along with a suggested script, and instructions on how to report back on how they stand on the issue.
The Washington Independent recently did a story on how illogical it is that this bill remains stalled. "Voters hoping to learn who's contributing to their lawmakers this election season instead find a gaping hole: Due to antiquated rules requiring senators to file campaign disclosures on paper, the records of upper chamber members take weeks to process. The procedure means that donations made closest to November's elections will go largely unseen until well after the last vote has been cast. [. . .] Meanwhile, observers can continue to scratch their heads over why the upper chamber can't evolve into the 21st Century."
Posted by Lateefah Williams
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