Members of the New York state Assembly vote on legislation that authorizes state tax officials to release, if requested, individual New York state tax returns to Congress, during a session in the Assembly Chamber at the state Capitol in Albany on Wednesday. Photo: Hans Pennink/AP

The New York Legislature on Wednesday passed a measure that would provide an avenue for the US Congress to get access to President Donald Trump's state tax returns, three years after he broke with decades of electoral tradition by refusing to release those filings publicly.

The measure, which consists of two bills, will now head to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for approval, after which Congress could ask for copies of Trump's tax returns immediately.

New York is in a unique position to offer that option because Trump is a resident of the state. The legislation passed Wednesday would allow the chairpersons of three congressional committees to request his tax documents from the state Department of Taxation and Finance.

The bill was approved on a largely party-line vote. In the wake of the November 2018 elections, Democrats hold the majority in both the State Assembly and Senate. Republicans have labeled the tax records bill as a political maneuver by the majority party, rather than one based on real policy goals.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, a Democrat from Manhattan who sponsors the bill, rebuffed that argument and said the legislation is a way for the state Legislature in New York to give Congress another oversight tool as a coequal branch of federal government.

“This is an important juncture in our history where we have a White House stonewalling Congress and preventing it from undertaking its oversight responsibility,” Hoylman said. “As a fellow legislator I'm proud of my colleagues for standing up for Congress as a coequal branch of government.”

The bill was introduced in New York last month as a way for Democrats to finally gain access to Trump's tax filings after two other bills in the state Legislature failed to gain support. Lawmakers were quicker to coalesce in recent weeks around the third bill, called the Trust Act.

An initial version of the legislation was met with criticism by some, particularly Republicans, who argued that it would enable Congress to request the tax returns of any New York resident. The first bill didn't place limits on whose documents federal lawmakers could ask for.

But a second bill would narrow down whose state tax filings could be requested from New York's tax agency. The bill would allow Congress to ask for the state filings of officials within the executive branch of the federal government, including the president, New York's congressional delegation and various state and local officials who have either been elected or appointed. Assemblyman David Buchwald, D-Westchester, who sponsored the measure in the Assembly, where it was met with opposition from a handful of Democrats on Wednesday as well. He said during the floor vote that the legislation could help deliver information that members of Congress have sought for more than two years.

“Transparency is essential, especially right now with what we're seeing with conflicts, and potential conflicts of interest, in regards to those who crack those policies,” Buchwald said. “That's part of why we're making sure public officials are no longer able to directly say that they do not need to be accountable for Congress.”

Only three members of Congress would be able to request those documents from New York: the leaders of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, U.S. House Ways and Means Committee, and the Joint Committee on Taxation.

Rep. Richard Neal, D-Massachusetts, is chairman of the latter two committees and indicated last month that he may not take immediate advantage of the new law. A spokesman for Neal told Bloomberg News they were more interested in investigating routine audits conducted by the Internal Revenue Service on the president and vice president than diving into Trump's finances.

Neal subpoenaed the U.S. Treasury Department earlier this month after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin rejected a request from Neal for the president's tax returns. Mnuchin, on Friday, refused to comply with the subpoena, which will likely set the stage for a legal battle between the U.S. House of Representatives and the White House over the request.

U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is chairman of the Senate Finance Committee.

The New York law would allow designated members of Congress to ask for copies of Trump's state tax returns immediately, rather than hashing out the request in court.

Federal lawmakers would only be allowed to review and discuss the contents of those filings in private, according to the bill. The legislation would not release those documents publicly.

There would be limits on what information could be requested from the state Tax Department, and for what purpose. Federal lawmakers would only be allowed to ask for an official's tax documents, for example, if that request is “related to, and in furtherance of, a legitimate task of the Congress.”

Sen. Brad Hoylman, D-Manhattan. (Photo: Hans Pennink/AP)

They would also be precluded from asking for an individual's state tax returns until they've first requested that person's federal tax filings from the U.S. Treasury Department. That prerequisite has already been fulfilled in the case of Trump's tax returns with Mnuchin's rejection.

The list of individuals whose tax returns could be requested is specific; it targets both elected officials and those appointed or employed by those individuals.

Congress would be able to request the state tax returns of the president, vice president and any other employee within the executive branch of federal government, including the president's cabinet.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate from New York could also have their tax documents requested, as could members of the State Senate and Assembly. Statewide elected officials, like the governor, would also be eligible for such a request, as would members of the governor's cabinet.

The legislation would also allow the state tax returns of local elected officials, like mayors and county executives, to be requested by Congress. Political party leaders in New York would also be subject to such a request.

Any judge within the state court system, from the trial court level to the state's highest court, could also have their state tax returns requested by Congress, according to the bill.

The state Tax Department would be directed to fulfill the request after it's made, according to Hoylman. The commissioner of the agency would have certain discretion as to what information is exchanged with Congress, he said, but the legislation would mandate the request to be granted.

Republicans, who largely opposed the measure Wednesday, chided Democrats for approving a bill aimed at Trump's tax returns, rather than focusing on legislation to address other issues important to New Yorkers, like infrastructure and the economy.

“How's [the bill] help New York state? Does it address any of the pressing issues that our constituents want us to be focusing on?” said Assemblyman Andrew Goodell, R-Chautauqua. “What benefit, whatsoever, does this bill have for the men and women who went to the polls and elected us to represent them?”

Cuomo has to wait for the Senate to deliver the legislation to Cuomo for a signature, which can happen at any time. Buchwald said he expects it to be approved by Cuomo, who has previously signaled support for the idea.

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