By Dan Murphy
Before he was elected to the New York State Assembly seven years ago, representing the 93rd district and the Westchester towns of Harrison, Port Chester, White Plains, North Castle, New Castle, Bedford, and North and South Salem, David Buchwald was a tax attorney. During his time in the Assembly, he has championed open government and anti-corruption measures in Albany.
Buchwald’s past and present came together last week when Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed his bill, the New York TRUST Act into law, enabling Congress to obtain President Donald Trump’s New York State tax returns.
“Our republic has endured for more than 200 years, thanks to the system of checks and balances provided in our Constitution,” said Buchwald. “Consistent with this tradition, New York State now stands ready to assist Congress, including as it challenges the Trump administration’s refusal to provide the president’s tax returns. The legislation we passed in New York will provide Congress with a direct path to what the president – or any president – wants to hide from the people’s representatives. No one is above the law.”
The new law was contained in two bills, both sponsored by Buchwald and State Sen. Brad Hoylman. The vote for the primary bill, which amends the prior law for releasing tax returns in New York, passed the Assembly by a 91-51 vote, mostly along party lines; Democrats favored the measure and republicans supported Trump, who has balked at not releasing his tax returns for four years now – two years as president and two as a presidential candidate.
“President Trump broke with a 40-year tradition of presidential candidates and presidents to release their tax returns,” said Buchwald. “After his election and, in particular, the negative consequences on New York and New York families, I thought it appropriate to build on my long-standing record as an open government advocate to work on shedding light on his tax returns.
“Because the President is a resident of New York State, he must include all worldwide income on his state tax return. This legislation is in the best interests of New Yorkers and Americans across the country.”
Democrats in Congress are currently in court trying to get a federal judge to order Treasury Secretary Steven Minuchin to release Trump’s tax returns to the House Ways and Means Committee.
For those concerned about privacy issues for most New Yorkers that are not elected officials or in high levels of state or federal government, the law only applies to a few thousand elected and appointed officials in Albany and Washington.
“The vast majority of New Yorkers are folks that believe we should provide this tool and have been calling on the president to release his tax returns, to ensure that his tax filings are in compliance with no conflict,” said Buchwald.
Susan Lerner, executive director of Common Cause New York, said every presidential candidate since Richard Nixon has released his or her tax returns, except Trump. “Americans have the right to know if the president is putting his business empire, or the interests of the public, first,” she said. “We commend the New York State Assembly and Senate for passing this commonsense legislation, and the governor for signing it into law.”
Buchwald elaborated on Nixon and his tax returns. “Nixon released a letter from the IRS saying how well prepared they were,” he said. “Then, because of pressure, he released his returns and the public found that he underreported his income by a half-million dollars. He later made the famous quote ‘The president is not a crook,’ based on his tax returns, not Watergate.”
Every president since Nixon has released their taxes for the public to review. But the Nixon tax story shows that just because the IRS is conducting an audit, which Trump has now claimed for four years, doesn’t mean the public shouldn’t also be allowed to take a look.
“Even after IRS audits, history shows its useful to take a look at presidential tax returns,” said Buchwald. “That’s why I think Congress should have access to them. For me, this legislation promotes transparency, ensures compliance with the law, and follows up with other issues that I have worked on.”
We now await the tax returns of President Donald Trump.
