Two Bills Targeting President Trump Pass the New York State Senate

The New York State Senate doesn't have a lot of sway over the federal government, but Democrats in the chamber say they've found a way to stand up to President Donald J. Trump.

Two bills approved by the State Senate Wednesday would give New York officials leverage over two burning issues. One would permit the state tax department to give the president’s New York income tax returns to Congressional committees. The other measure would ensure that anyone the president pardons for federal crimes could still be prosecuted for crimes committed in New York State. 

“The president and his administration has repeatedly shown a true hostility to the rule of law and presidential customs,” Senate Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “No one is above the law.”

New York state has a unique roll to play in Congressional Democrats' fight to obtain Trump's tax returns because the president is a life-long resident of the state and many of his businesses are headquartered here. The bill's sponsor, Brad Hoylman, says New York already “routinely” shares people’s tax returns with other states and with the IRS.

 “We are simply expanding that authority, to allow the state tax department to share that information with one of three congressional committees,” said Hoylman, who represents Chelsea, Midtown and other areas of Manhattan. The bill would only allow sharing returns with three committees: House Ways and Means, Senate Finance, and the Joint Committee on Taxation.  

Senator Todd Kaminsky is sponsoring the bill that ensures that state prosecutors can still pursue criminal cases, even if the person is pardoned by Trump. The measure adds an exception to what’s known as the “double jeopardy” protection law.

“New York is a sovereign entity,” Kaminsky said. “And if a law is broken here we should not tie the hands of our prosecutors and citizens to seek redress for that and to bring that before a grand jury.”

The president has so far not pardoned any of his associates who face or are serving jail time for crimes, including his former campaign manager Paul Manafort and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen. But Trump has pardoned others, including Joe Arpaio, the former sheriff of Maricopa County, Arizona. Trump has several times raised the possibly of pardons for his former associates.

Republican State Senator Andrew Lanza, in debate on the chamber's floor, warned Democrats about tampering with what he calls a fundamental tenet of the US Constitution, which prevents governments from trying a person more than once for the same crime. He accused the Democrats of being “blinded” by political considerations.

“We’re going to throw freedom into the garbage heap. We’re going to allow tyranny to once again get a foothold on these shores, ” said Lanza. “Hate who you like. Please don’t hate freedom.”

Democrats say the measure is limited in scope.

Senate GOP Minority Leader John Flanagan, speaking earlier in the week, says the bill to make it easier to obtain Trump’s taxes is a “blatantly political act.”

“We should be spending our time worrying about what we can do for New Yorkers,” Flanagan said, who said the people in his district care more about the state’s high taxes and programs that can benefit them.

“The first thing on their agenda is not talking about the president’s tax returns,” he said. “They want to know about what’s happening with flooding on Lake Ontario; what’s going on with college affordability.”  

Senate Leader Stewart-Cousins denies that the measures are politically motivated. She says the Senate is acting to fulfill a need.

“It’s very clear that we, as lawmakers, make laws to fit circumstances of the day,” she said. “This is a circumstance of the day.”  

Gov. Andrew Cuomo supports the two bills, but the measures have not yet been approved in the state Assembly. Speaker Carl Heastie says his Democratic members still need to discuss the legislation in their private party conference.