SACRAMENTO >> Legislation that would mandate Presidential candidates to release their tax returns in order to appear on the California ballot was approved in the Senate Appropriations Committee Thursday morning, clearing the way for a vote of the full Senate in the next week.
The measure was drafted in response to then candidate Donald Trump’s refusal to release tax returns for public scrutiny. Prior to Trump’s stand, every president since Jimmy Carter (over 40 years) has released at least one year of tax returns.
Sen. Mike McGuire, who co-authored the bill with Sen. Scott Wiener, considers the measure even more important now, as the scandal surrounding President Trump and his Administration’s potential ties to Russia continues to grow. Without financial information, he said, it is impossible to know the full extent of his dealings and any serious conflicts of interest they may continue to generate.
“Transparency is a nonpartisan issue. And it’s transparency that provides the basis for accountability in Government,” said McGuire. “Presidents are expected to put their own interests aside — whether it be business ties or relationships with a foreign government — for the greater good of our country. And that greater good is America’s security and the protection of its people.”
SB 149 — the Presidential Tax Transparency & Accountability Act — has already been approved in both the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Elections and Constitutional Amendments Committee.
The legislation will require basic tax information to be shared with the public and require that all presidential candidates release the last five years of their tax returns in order to appear on the California ballot. The returns would also be made available to the public on the Secretary of State’s website.
“The trust of the American people in our government is being shaken with each revelation coming out of Washington about contacts, connections, and possible collusion between the Trump administration and Russian officials,” Wiener said. “While we can’t change what’s happened or how we got here, we can start doing the hard work to rebuild that trust by ensuring transparency and accountability from future presidential candidates. Passing SB 149 will help us to make sure the interests of the American public come before all else.”
Trump has stated in public that Americans don’t care about his tax returns. Yet in national polls, 74 percent of respondents on the issue believe President Trump should release his tax returns.
