New York State Senate at the state Capitol in Albany. AP Photo: Hans Pennink

Democrats in the New York State Senate are expected this week to approve two bills that would allow state prosecutors to bring charges against individuals who receive a presidential pardon and could allow members of the U.S. Congress to see President Donald Trump's state tax returns.

The sponsor of the first proposal in the state Assembly said Wednesday that lawmakers there may not be far behind on approving that bill themselves. The future of the measure geared at Trump's taxes is less clear in the lower house.

Both bills have gained momentum in recent weeks as Democrats in New York shift from discussions around the state budget, which was approved at the end of March, to what they can accomplish before they're scheduled to leave Albany for the year in June.

The legislation will only be considered Wednesday by the State Senate, where members have coalesced around the proposals. The State Assembly, which is also controlled by Democrats, has been more cautious to bring the bills to the floor for a vote.

The first bill, which has been considered by lawmakers for about a year now, will change a section of state law that precludes state prosecutors, including the Attorney General's Office, from bringing charges against someone pardoned of federal crimes based on the same set of facts. That's commonly referred to as the “double jeopardy loophole” in New York.

State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, D-Nassau, has sponsored the bill since it was first proposed last year. He said the final report released in March by Special Counsel Robert Mueller III on his investigation into alleged Russian involvement in the 2016 election added new urgency to the bill.

“Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report provided disturbing, new evidence of the president's plan to improperly use the pardon power to help his associates and undermine the rule of law,” Kaminsky said. “I am pleased the Senate will take up my legislation to close the double jeopardy loophole and crack down on corruption.”

The bill has stalled in the Assembly, where Democrats have expressed concerns about the pointed language of the legislation. It's written in a way that would only allow state charges to be brought against a pardoned individual with direct ties to Trump, either through his family, their work on his campaign, or their work in the White House.

But that could change in the coming weeks, according to Assemblyman Joseph Lentol, a Democrat from Brooklyn who sponsors the bill in the Assembly.

Lentol said Tuesday that New York Attorney General Letitia James has been working to assuage the concerns of members who haven't yet pledged to support the bill. James, along with her predecessors, have been directly involved in negotiations on the legislation.

“I think [James] has been around, doing her due diligence with many of the members, speaking to them about the bill, and talking to them about the bill and how it's been drafted in a way to try to cure the objections from last year,” Lentol said. “My guess is that we have the votes to pass it and we'll probably do it within the next couple of weeks.”

Lentol said Democrats will have to meet again to discuss the legislation before it comes to the floor for a vote, and that it may continue to stall if members still have issues with the bill. At that point, they could seek to amend the legislation a second time to address those concerns if the Senate and James agree to the changes.

Kaminsky urged lawmakers in the Assembly on Tuesday to continue working on the bill and send it to the floor for a final vote sooner rather than later.

“No one—not even the president and his inner circle—is above the law, and I urge the Assembly to pass this vital piece of legislation in an expeditious fashion—justice demands no less,” Kaminsky said.

The second bill, sponsored by State Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan, would create a mechanism for members of Congress to request copies of Trump's state tax returns from the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. The legislation would not allow members of Congress to obtain Trump's federal tax documents.

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts; U.S. Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; and Neal in his role as chairman of the Joint Committee on Taxation would be able to request Trump's state tax returns from the agency as long as they've already tried to obtain his federal filings from the U.S. Treasury Department.

As of Monday, that requirement was satisfied. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin wrote in a letter to Neal that the Treasury Department would not be releasing Trump's tax documents to Congress.

The bill would not mandate the state Tax Department to hand over the president's tax returns when requested; that would be at the discretion of the agency's commissioner. They wouldn't be made public as part of the exchange, according to the legislation, and could only be requested for a legitimate, legislative purpose.

The measure is not expected to be taken up this week in the Assembly, where it's sponsored by Assemblyman David Buchwald, D-Westchester. Lawmakers there will have about a month and a half to consider the legislation in the lower chamber before they're scheduled to leave Albany for the year in June.