New York lawmakers revise their bill to allow Congress to get Trump taxes, a vote expected Wednesday

May 20, 2019, 6:16 pm UTC

By Allan Smith

Members of the New York State Assembly made significant changes over the weekend to a prominent bill to help Congress get tax returns from the New York State Assembly. President Donald Trump.

These amendments include the limitation of available state tax returns so that Congress can access declarations filed only by persons in elected positions at the federal, local, or local level, as well as by entities that they control or have an interest in. important participation.

Some critics have said that the original bill was too broad and that any taxpayer of the state of New York should be worried before Congress, now able to get the tax returns from this state.

The bill, which is expected to be passed on Wednesday, aims to amend state legislation to allow the state tax and finance commissioner to publish any state income tax return requested by government officials. Committee on Ways and Means of the House, the Senate Finance Committee or the Commission. the Joint Committee on Taxation – the three congressional tax committees. Existing laws generally prohibit such release.

The new version of the bill also changes the purpose for which reports can be obtained – by removing "the specified and legitimate legislative objective" – ​​and replacing it with any "legitimate task" of Congress. In addition, the bill now requires the State of New York to draft federal tax information that may appear in parallel with state declarations.

"Although I do not necessarily think the amendments were necessary to pass the bill, this, along with other (changes) made it stronger and better, and it was what is the legislative process, "said the representative of the Democratic State, David Buchwald, who sponsors the legislation, told NBC News.

Governor Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat who has expressed his support for the proposal, could pass the bill soon after.

"His office has been involved in the discussions," Buchwald said of Cuomo's support for the legislative changes. The Cuomo office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC News.

The Senate and the State Assembly are under democratic control.

New York's efforts come as the president's federal reports are at the center of a battle between House Democrats and the Treasury Department. Although New York provides only access to Trump's state statements, these documents should contain much of the information that congressional legislators seek to obtain from his federal statements, since New York serves as the seat to the company of the president and constitutes his country of origin.

Last week, the Treasury Department said it would not comply with Congressional subpoenas to provide Trump's six years of tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, increasing the chances of Democrats are fighting for access to court statements. Federal law gives three congressional tax committees the absolute right to obtain and revise the taxpayer's otherwise confidential federal tax information to the Treasury.