The Maryland Senate passed a bill Monday night that would require certain candidates for president and vice president to release copies of their tax returns, legislation aimed at President Trump.
The measure passed the Democrat-controlled state Senate with support from all but four Democratic senators, though some Democrats, along with their Republican colleagues, balked at the legislation.
“Show me in the Constitution where it says that’s a qualification for being president of the United States,” said state Sen. James Brochin, a Democrat representing Baltimore County, according to the Baltimore Sun. “We can’t go along and make up rules when we don’t like the president of the United States.”
Senate Minority Whip Stephen Hershey, a Republican, called the measure “the most childish bill that I’ve ever seen.”
“I’m embarrassed that it’s on the floor,” he said, according to the Sun.
The bill, called the Presidential Candidate Tax Transparency Act, requires presidential and vice presidential candidates to file copies of their tax returns with the state Board of Elections, which would then be made public. Candidates who fail to submit their tax returns will not appear on the general election ballot.
Trump drew criticism from Democrats and opponents during the 2016 presidential campaign when he refused to release his tax returns. Questions of whether he would make his tax returns public continued into his first year in office.
Trump said during the first presidential debate he was “under a routine audit” and vowed to release his tax documents once it was completed. However, he has yet to do so.
The Maryland bill now heads to the state House of Representatives, which is also controlled by Democrats.
If the bill passes the general assembly and is signed by Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, Maryland would be the first state to enact a law requiring those running for president and vice president to release their tax returns.
State lawmakers in New Jersey and California passed similar measures, but they were vetoed by their respective governors.
