California law professor Rex Grady here writes that SB 27, the bill to require presidential primary candidates to reveal their tax returns or be omitted from the presidential primary ballots, is not constitutional. The op-ed is in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat, which is one of the largest newspapers in the State Senate district of Mike McGuire, the sponsor of SB 27.

Grady only mentions the U.S. Constitution. He and other commentators never seem to remember the California Constitution, which says that the Secretary of State shall put all “recognized” candidates on the presidential primary ballots. Article II, sec. 5(a).

California Governor Gavin Newsom has twelve days to act on the bill. The twelve-day period starts when the legislature sends the bill to him. Although the bill has passed, it still hasn’t been sent to the Governor.

UPDATE: Dan Walters, a well-known commentator and reporter for California government, has this article in Cal Matters, predicting that Governor Newsom will sign the bill, but that it will be held unconstitutional.

HR 51, the bill to make the District of Columbia a state, now has 216 co-sponsors in addition to the sponsor, D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton. A majority of the House would be 218 members.

On July 7, 2019, Rick Knox died at the age of 70. He had been national chairman of the Prohibition Party since 2015, and lived in Blairsville, Georgia. Under his chairmanship, the party gained qualified status in Mississippi in time to appear on the 2016 ballot, the first the party had received votes in Mississippi since 1896. Also under his chairmanship, the party established social media for itself. Knox had a background as a political consultant, and many years earlier had been active in the American Independent Party when it was a nationally-organized party. Thanks to Paul Frankel for this news.