Chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Asks IRS to Furnish Copies of President Trump’s Tax Returns

Posted on by April 3, 2019
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On April 3, Congressman Richard E. Neal, chair of the Ways and Means Committee, asked the IRS Commissioner to furnish copies of President Trump’s last six years of income tax returns. The letter also requests copies of various entities controlled by President Trump. The letter asks that the information be provided by April 10.

The request cites the Internal Revenue Code, section 6103(f), which says in part, “Upon written request from the Chairman of the Committee on Ways and Means of the House of Representatives…the Secretary shall furnish such committee with any returns or return information specified in such request.” Thanks to PoliticalWire for this news.

How the Recent Special Election in California for State Senate, District One, Ended up with No Democrat on the Run-off Ballot

Posted on by April 3, 2019
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California held a special election for State Senate, District One, on March 26. No one got a majority, so there will be a runoff in June between two Republicans.

This letter to the editor of the Siskiyou Daily News explains that a former Republican, Steve Baird, changed his registration to Democratic and entered the race. It appears that he was not a sincere candidate, because he espoused policies such as permitting legal abortion on anyone under the age of 25 years. It also appears that if he had not been on the March 26 ballot, the only other Democrat, who was endorsed by her party, would have placed in the top two and qualified for the runoff ballot.

Here are the unofficial election returns from the March 26 election.

Texas Bill to Make it More Difficult for Parties to Remain on the Ballot

Posted on by April 3, 2019
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Texas Representative Mayes Middleton (R-Wallisville) has introduced HB 4416. It raises the vote test for a party to remain on the ballot from 5% for any statewide office to 10%. If this bill had been law in the past, the Libertarian Party would have been removed from the ballot immediately after the general election of 2016. Middleton is in his first term.

Currently, the only states with 10% vote tests are New Jersey and Virginia. The median vote test of the 50 states is 2%. Texas also lets parties stay on if they got 2% for Governor, and HB 4416 does not alter that test.