The Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act would increase disclosure by requiring the Senate to file their campaign contribution forms online, but it’s being blocked in the Senate by Sen. John Ensign (pictured at right). Today at a press conference in D.C., Ensign got grilled on his objections to the bill and laid out what it would take for him to let it pass.

Sunlight Foundation:

>During the Press Club event and after, staff from Sunlight and the Center for Responsive Politics asked Sen. Ensign if he would be willing to lift his objection to the bill if he was promised a hearing on his amendment in the Rules Committee (an offer already made by Rules Committee Chairwoman Dianne Feinstein). Sen. Ensign declined, insisting that he wants one hour of debate on the amendment, and would subject his amendment to, as he put it, a “60 vote requirement.”
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>Ensign’s amendment has no place in this bill, and we question his motives in insisting that it be part of the debate on the electronic filing measure. It is disingenuous for him to claim that he is “100% for electronic reporting” (subscription required for that link) while single-handedly preventing this bill from passing. But, we are cautiously optimistic that, as Ensign himself pointed out, his amendment would be defeated if it came up for a vote.
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>We hope Senator Reid will take Senator Ensign up on his offer and bring S. 223 to the floor if the Senate reconvenes after Election Day. We know how the Senate works, though. Senator Reid will want to know Ensign’s amendment will fail before he can bring the bill up for a vote.

Go to Pass 223 and tell your senators that you want them to increase disclosure of their campaign contributions by filing their reports online.