The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S.1508), which has yet to be reported out of committee, would require U.S. Senate candidates to file their federal campaign finance reports electronically, just like House and presidential candidates do, and many critics say it's high time. Currently, Senate candidates report on paper and then those pages of contributors are entered manually by the Federal Election Commission (FEC), a time consuming process that denies the public the right to know who is contributing to a Senator's election campaigns when it matters most -- before the election. The FEC requires federal candidates to file quarterly reports two weeks after the close of the quarter. These reports contain information on total campaign contributions, as well as the amount given by individuals and political committees. Expenditures are also reported. According to the FEC schedule, the next reports are due on Oct. 15. While campaign expenditure reports of House and presidential candidates are available on the Internet within 24 hours of being filed with the FEC, the Senate reports will not be available until well after the election. Reports for the period between Oct. 1 - Dec. 31 are not due until Jan. 15, 2007. Jeffrey H. Birnbaum summed up the issue nicely in his Washington Post column: "In one of the most controversial quirks in election law, candidates for Senate are not required to file their campaign-finance reports electronically. That means voters can't effectively find out how much and from whom their would-be senators have collected money until long after the election -- too late for them to act." A bipartisan group of senators introduced S.1508 in July 2005. In an effort to advance the bill four senators, including Russell Feingold (D-WI), Thad Cochran (R-MS), John McCain (R-AZ) and Richard Durbin (D-IL), sent a letter to colleagues asking for their support of the bill. If passed, it will apply to reports filed after the date of enactment. The blogging community and public interest groups such as the Campaign Finance Institute have recently taken up the question of why Senate candidates enjoy such an exception. Among recent supporters of Senate electronic filing are DailyKos, The Huffington Post, and Sunlight Foundation. The issue could gain prominence with the November election quickly approaching and citizens increasingly calling for measures to ensure they are able to make informed voting decisions. Unfortunately, as the time Congress is in session dwindles, the bill becomes less and less likely to move forward this year.