Senator Hoylman’s T.R.U.M.P Act Advances Through Senate Elections Committee

Democrats force a discussion on vital election reforms, including Senator Hoylman’s T.R.U.M.P Act to require presidential candidates to submit five years of tax reforms to qualify for the ballot

Hoylman: “On the day Donald Trump says he can pardon himself for criminal wrongdoing, the State Senate should pass my bill S26 to force presidential candidates to release their taxes and expose potential conflicts of interest to the voters.”

ALBANY -- Yesterday, State Senator Brad Hoylman (D/WF - Manhattan) joined Senator Brian Kavanagh and Senator Michael Gianaris to force an Elections Committee discussion and vote on a package of election reform bills including Senator Hoylman’s Tax Returns Uniformly Made Public (T.R.U.M.P) Act. In a 4-4 vote, Senator Hoylman’s T.R.U.M.P. Act passed the Elections Committee.

The T.R.U.M.P. Act (S26) would require any candidate for President or Vice President who wants to appear on the New York ballot to file the five most recent years of federal income tax returns with the NYS Board of Elections (BOE). Failure to comply would disqualify a candidate from appearing on the general election ballot. Since first announcing the T.R.U.M.P. Act in December 2016, the bill has been endorsed by the New York Times Editorial Board, and has been announced or introduced in 28 other states representing more than 149 million people and 317 electoral votes. The bill has passed in legislative houses in California, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland and New Jersey.

State Senator Brad Hoylman said: “On the day Donald Trump says he can pardon himself for criminal wrongdoing, the State Senate should pass my bill S26 to force presidential candidates to release their taxes and expose potential conflicts of interest to the voters. As of this month, 28 state legislatures are considering similar bills that would enshrine the four-decade long tradition of presidential tax transparency into law. This measure must be brought to the floor for a full vote before the end of the session. Nothing less than the integrity of our democratic institutions is at stake.”

In addition to Senator Hoylman’s T.R.U.M.P. ACT, the Senate Elections Committee passed a series of reforms aimed at overhauling New York’s outdated election and campaign laws.  S7400A (Kavanagh) would enable and fund early voting in New York State, S7149 (Kavanagh) would close the LLC loophole for corporations, and S3304A(Gianaris) would amend our antiquated voter registration system. All four bills will proceed to the Rules committee, with only 17 days before the end of session.

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