Remember when state legislators filed their campaign finance reports on paper? Images of their scanned reports could be called up one page at a time — if you were patient enough to sit there and wait.

The Legislature finally required electronic filing in 2007 and that move, along with technical improvements by the Ethics Commission, has resulted in Missouri being declared the fourth most improved state in access to campaign finance data.

In 2003, Missouri got a D and ranked 26th in the national study, released by the Campaign Disclosure Project, a California-based group. This year, Missouri got a B and tied with Hawaii for the 7th ranking nationally.

The grade takes into account accessibility, web site usability, the campaign disclosure law and the electronic filing program.

The study praises Missouri for creating online, searchable databases and recently adding a download option for database search results.

It doesn’t pass judgment on Missouri’s recent repeal of campaign contribution limits.

Illinois, which got a B and ranked second in 2003, maintained a B but dropped to 14th nationally.

You can see the study here.