Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill Tuesday that would force presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the state’s primary ballot, a move apparently aimed at President Trump.
The bill, named the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act, requires presidential and gubernatorial candidates to disclose the last five years of their tax returns. The measure passed the legislature with no Republican support and took effect immediately when Newsom signed it Tuesday.
“As one of the largest economies in the world and home to one in nine Americans eligible to vote, California has a special responsibility to require this information of presidential and gubernatorial candidates,” Newsom said in a statement. “These are extraordinary times and states have a legal and moral duty to do everything in their power to ensure leaders seeking the highest offices meet minimal standards, and to restore public confidence. The disclosure required by this bill will shed light on conflicts of interest, self-dealing, or influence from domestic and foreign business interest.”
To be included on the May primary ballot, candidates will have to submit their tax filings to the California secretary of state by late November. The information will then be posted online for public viewing with personal information redacted. According to the Los Angeles Times, the new law does not appear to ban candidates who decline to submit tax returns from the November general election ballot.
This new requirement is likely an effort to compel transparency from Trump, who has refused on multiple occasions to release his tax returns. The Trump 2020 campaign claims such a prerequisite of a presidential candidate is unconstitutional.
“The Constitution is clear on the qualifications for someone to serve as president and states cannot add additional requirements on their own,” Tim Murtaugh, the campaign’s communications director, told the Los Angeles Times. “The bill also violates the First Amendment right of association, since California can’t tell political parties which candidates their members can or cannot vote for in a primary election.”
Republican state lawmakers, all of whom voted against the bill, repeatedly accused their Democratic counterparts of using their hatred for Trump as motivation to push the legislation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Of the crowded field of Democratic presidential hopefuls, only four have yet to disclose enough information to meet California’s new requirement. Former Vice President Joe Biden, the current front-runner, has only released three years of tax filings. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, and businessman Andrew Yang have yet to disclose any tax information, according to the Sacramento Bee.
Former Democratic California Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed a similar bill in 2017, fearing a slippery slope of disclosure demands. Seventeen other states have considered tax return disclosure legislation this year. In Hawaii, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Washington state, those bills are still working their way through the state legislatures.
