New York governor Andrew Cuomo on Monday signed into law a measure allowing Congress to obtain President Trump’s New York state tax returns.
“This bill gives Congress the ability to fulfill its Constitutional responsibilities, strengthen our democratic system and ensure that no one is above the law,” Cuomo said in a statement.
The law, which passed the state legislature in May, mandates that New York tax officials release the president’s state tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee, the Senate Finance Committee, or the Joint Committee on Taxation on request, as long the returns are sought for a “specified and legitimate legislative purpose.”
Last week, Democratic Representative Richard Neal, who chairs the House Ways and Means Committee, filed a lawsuit in federal court to subpoena the Treasury Department and IRS for Trump’s federal tax returns from 2013 through last year.
Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin previously denied House Democrats’ request for the president’s tax returns in May, saying lawmakers have failed to show a “legitimate legislative purpose” for needing the information, prompting the Committee to sue.
“In refusing to comply with the statute, Defendants have mounted an extraordinary attack on the authority of Congress to obtain information needed to conduct oversight of Treasury, the IRS, and the tax laws on behalf of the American people who participate in the Nation’s voluntary tax system,” the lawsuit argues.