On March 18, the Hawaii House Judiciary Committee passed SB 94. It requires general election presidential candidates to post their latest federal income tax return on their own web page. It also forbids presidential electors from voting for anyone who has not done that.
The vote was 6-2. The two “no” votes were the Speaker of the House, Calvin K. Y. Say, and the legislature’s longest-serving Republican, Cynthia Thielen.
On March 19, the Arizona House Elections Committee passed SB 1154 by 6-4. This is the bill that moves the non-presidential primary from late August to early August. It also moves the petition for a newly-qualifying party from February of the election year to November of the year before the election.
On March 19, the Arkansas House passed SB 445, which moves all primaries in presidential years from May to March. It also moves the petition deadline for newly-qualifying parties from January of the election year, to October of the year before the election. The vote was 74-8
On March 19, the California Senate Elections Committee passed SB 27. This is the bill to require presidential candidates in primaries to reveal the last five years of their income tax returns. It does not apply to write-in candidates, and California permits write-ins in presidential primaries. The vote was 3-1.
On March 18, the U.S. Supreme Court heard a racial gerrymandering case involving Virginia legislative districts. Virginia House of Delegates v Bethune-Hill. The plaintiffs had won in the lower court. Here is the New York Times story about the hearing, which seemed to be almost as much about who in state government can decide whether to appeal, than on the merits itself.
The two partisan gerrymander cases in the U.S. Supreme Court are next week.
