Law calls for tax return release
Constitutionality of California ballot requirement in doubt
WASHINGTON — In a salvo clearly aimed at President Donald Trump, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill to require presidential candidates to file their federal tax returns for the five most recent years with the California secretary of state to appear on the Golden State’s primary ballot.
Trump’s refusal to release his tax returns ahead of the 2016 presidential election became a sticking point for Democrats like Newsom, who frame Trump’s refusal to make his tax returns public as an unwarranted break with precedent. According to factcheck.org, Trump is the first nominee of either party not to release five years’ worth of returns before Election Day.
In May 2016, Trump said that he would not release his returns because he was under audit and “there’s nothing to learn” from the documents.
Newsom’s predecessor, fellow Democrat Gov. Jerry Brown, vetoed a similar bill on the grounds that it might not be constitutional and presented a “slippery slope” that could encourage states to tack on a list of new requirements for would-be presidents.
Tim Murtaugh, director of communications for the Trump 2020 campaign, said in an email: “There are very good reasons why the very liberal Gov. Jerry Brown vetoed this bill two years ago — it’s unconstitutional and it opens up the possibility for states to load up more requirements on candidates in future elections. What’s next, five years of health records?”
“California is leading the nation,” Newsom said in a short video as he discussed past laws that curbed one-time norms, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s election to four terms, which spurred a two-term limit by constitutional amendment. Also, President John F. Kennedy’s nomination of his brother Robert as attorney general spawned anti-nepotism laws.
The Sacramento Bee lambasted Newsom’s decision to support the bill in an editorial under the headline, “Bored governor signs silly bill: Film at 11.”
“In reality, it will likely be shot down on the grounds that it is unconstitutional,” the Bee editorialized. “The U.S. Constitution does not require anyone to release their tax returns in order to run for president.”
Newsom came armed for the constitutional argument in a signing statement that quoted three renowned figures in legal circles, including University of California, Berkeley, law school Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, who argued that the law — a first in the nation — is constitutional.
One of the bill’s authors said that four candidates in the 2020 Democratic primary, including former Vice President Joe Biden, would not qualify for the California ballot because of the five-year requirement.
Contact Debra J. Saunders at dsaunders@reviewjournal. com or 202-662-7391. Follow @Debrajsaunders on Twitter.