New Jersey Dems Pass Bill Obliging Trump to Publish Tax Returns

Democrats in the Senate of New Jersey passed a bill requiring President Donald Trump to make his tax returns public, or he will be blocked from running for the 2020 presidential election.

Newsweek reports that the bill obliges all presidential candidates to file tax returns for all federal income dating five years back.

According to the newly adopted bill, candidates will have to “file the income tax returns and written consent for disclosure with the division no later than 50 days before the general election.”

If the bill passes into state law, candidates who do not meet this requirement will not be eligible for the ballot in New Jersey. To become law, the bill must now pass the New Jersey General Assembly and then be signed by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, the Courier Post reported.

“It is so obvious with this President that had voters known some of what seem to be his business interests, he may not have been elected president,” New Jersey state Senator Loretta Weinberg, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, told the Post.

Sen. Joe Pennacchio, a Republican, attempted to amend the bill so the tax return requirement also applied to all Gubernatorial, State Senate and General Assembly candidates in New Jersey.

“New Jersey Democrats are claiming that this legislation is about transparency, well what’s good for the goose is what’s good for the gander,” Pennacchio said in a release. “If this really is about making sure voters are well-informed, then common sense dictates that S119 should apply to all of us as well. I would vote ‘yes’ if the Senate accepts my proposal to change the bill so that it also applies to all 120 State legislative offices and candidates for governor. We shouldn’t spend our time practicing political theater. The issue of requiring the disclosure of tax returns should apply broadly to candidates around the country. We shouldn’t pick and choose the parameters of who can run who can’t. That sets a bad precedent and goes against our constitutional rights to free expression, and the right to run for office.”