WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Thad Cochran, R-Miss., today joined in introducing bipartisan, cost-saving legislation requiring Senate candidates to electronically file election reports with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).

The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act 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.  Under current law, Senate campaign committees are the only federal political committees not required to file reports and statements electronically directly with the FEC.

“Filing Senate campaign reports electronically is a simple, efficient, and cost-effective approach that is long-overdue,” said Wicker, who is an original cosponsor of the legislation. “The Senate needs to get with the times. Senator Cochran should be commended for his continued leadership on this issue.”

“Electronic filing of campaign reports would improve efficiency, increase transparency, and reduce costs for taxpayers,” Cochran said.  “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation can help bring the Senate’s rules in line with modern technology.”

“It is time to bring campaigns into the 21st Century,” Tester said.  “This bipartisan bill will shine more light on political campaigns, more quickly make FEC reports available to the public, and save taxpayers nearly a half-million dollars each year.”

Wicker, Cochran, and Tester are among the Senators who voluntarily file FEC reports electronically.

According to a 2013 analysis from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, this change would save taxpayers an estimated $500,000.  Currently, Senate candidates file campaign-related reports in paper form with the Secretary of the Senate; those paper reports are copied and delivered in hard-copy form to the FEC, whose employees must then manually enter the records into digital form to make the information accessible to the public.

The Senate bill would put Senate candidates under the same rules as House candidates, presidential candidates, non-Senate party committees, PACs and 527 organizations, which have filed electronically with the FEC since 2001.

The Tester-Cochran measure has been referred to the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, on which both Wicker and Cochran serve.