USAToday: Senate bill pushes online campaign-finance filings

Even though most services are now online, from bank statements to brokerage accounts, members of the U.S. Senate continue to file campaign-finance reports the old-fashioned way: on paper.

This practice leads to delays in the information being made available to the public, renders them electronically unsearchable and costs the U.S. government an estimated $500,000 a year to process.

Sen. Jon Tester wants to change that. The Montana Democrat has introduced a bill that would require Senate candidates to file their quarterly campaign-finance reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission (FEC).