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Imagine being so duplicitous that you influence a whole state to enact a bill to stop others from repeating your B.S. The California State Assembly passed the Presidential Tax Transparency and Accountability Act on Thursday, according to The Hill, and yes—it was prompted by the one and only 45.
“President Trump’s blatant disregard for the tradition of releasing tax returns is dangerous to our democracy,” Senator Mike McGuire (D), who helped author the bill, said in a statement. “For decades, every president has put their personal beliefs aside and put our country first and released their returns.”
Also known as SB 149, McGuire says the bill was written to essentially cut the crap (but not in those exact words—that’s us, lol). If signed by the governor, the bill would see that all presidential candidates release the last five years of their tax returns before they’re eligible to have their name included on the California ballot. Tax returns would also be made available to the public via the California Secretary of State’s website.
How ’bout that?
If only we could implement this bill across all 50 states. It surely would’ve come in handy, say, back in June, when attorneys general for D.C. and Maryland filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump for violating constitutional anti-corruption clauses and accepting stacks of guap from foreign governments since being inaugurated. (And in case you forgot, Trump was the first presidential candidate to refuse releasing their tax returns.)
“As the months continue to go by in the disastrous Trump administration and the investigations and conflicts of interest pile up, it becomes more and more clear how critical basic transparency is in how we elect our president,” Senator Scott Wiener (D), another co-author, said in a statement.
Which will hopefully push other states to follow suit, though it’s ludicrous it’s even necessary. As The Hill notes, New York passed a similar bill earlier this year.
