California Assembly Passes Presidential Tax Returns Bill

Posted on by July 9, 2019
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On June 8, the California Assembly passed SB 27 by 57-17. It prevents presidential candidates from appearing on a presidential primary ballot unless they reveal the last five years of their income tax returns. The bill now returns to the Senate, because the Assembly and Senate versions are not the same. Here is the roll-call.

The bill seems to run afoul of the California Constitution, which directs the Secretary of State to put all “recognized” presidential candidates on presidential primary ballots. The purpose of that part of the California Constitution, which was passed in 1972, was to make sure that presidential primary voters were able to vote for all significant candidates. Before the amendment passed, sometimes leading presidential candidates did not file for the California presidential primary, because their own party’s leader wanted to be a “favorite son”. For example, California Democrats only saw Governor Pat Brown on their 1960 presidential primary ballot; John F. Kennedy and his competitors did not want to offend Governor Brown by filing for the Democratic presidential primary.

Six analyses of the bill were prepared by staff for the California legislature, but none of them mentioned the California Constitution.

Ross Perot Dies

Posted on by July 9, 2019
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On July 9, Ross Perot died at the age of 89. He is the only person running for president outside the major parties who was ever leading in the polls. That happened in early June 1992, when all the nation’s leading pollsters reported that if the election had been held then, Perot would have won.

He is also the only person who got on the ballot in all 51 jurisdictions, who didn’t need to file a single lawsuit to achieve that. In 1992, not only did he not need any ballot access lawsuits; two states immediately eased their ballot access laws, just to make sure that he got on the ballot. New York lowered the petition from 20,000 to 15,000 signatures, effective immediately (but the change was not effective immediately for office other than president). North Carolina discovered in early 1992 that it had no procedure for an independent presidential candidate to get on the ballot, and passed one, effective immediately. Thanks to Ken Bush for this news.

New York Bill to Send President Trump’s State Tax Returns to Congress is Signed

Posted on by July 8, 2019
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On July 8, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed S5072. This is the bill that says if the Chair of the U.S. House Ways & Means Committee asks to see the state income tax return of a resident of New York who is a public official, the state will send a copy. However, months ago, the Chair of the Ways & Means Committee had said that he doesn’t intend to ask for the return, even if the bill becomes law.

Salon Article on How Participation in One Democratic Debate, with Limited Time, Expanded Public Awareness of Marianne Williamson

Posted on by July 7, 2019
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Melanie McFarland has this article in Salon, on how public awareness of Marianne Williamson has expanded, as a result of her being included in one of the two Democratic presidential debates last month. This shows how an obscure presidential candidate, who is permitted to be included in a debate with the candidates who considered “front-runners”, can benefit. This is true, even though there were ten candidates on stage, and Williamson was given very little air time.

Democrats File List of Exhibits in Lawsuit on Order of Candidates on Florida Ballot

Posted on by July 7, 2019
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On July 3, the Democratic National Committee filed this list of exhibits in Jacobson v Lee, the case over the order of candidates on the Florida ballot. The list includes the laws of other states, relating to determining the order of candidates on general election ballots. The purpose is to show that other states have laws that are neutral and give every candidate a chance to appear first on the ballot. The state objects to this evidence, saying the laws of other states are irrelevant.