RI bill would keep President Trump off 2020 ballot unless he releases his tax returns

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP/WPRI) — The Rhode Island Senate has passed a bill that would require presidential and vice presidential candidates to file five years’ worth of tax returns in order to appear on the state’s ballots.

The Senate voted 33-3 to pass the measure. A House version has been held in a committee.

Senate spokesman Greg Pare says if the bill becomes law, President Donald Trump wouldn’t appear on a future ballot unless he filed his returns.

Democratic Sen. Gayle Goldin, who sponsored the bill, did not explicitly mention Trump in vouching for the policy on the Senate floor. She did say that “this president” was the first since Richard Nixon to not voluntarily release his tax returns.

Goldin says the tax returns contain essential information about conflicts of interest that is not otherwise available to the public.

Independent gubernatorial candidate Joe Trillo, who served as chairman of Trump’s campaign in Rhode Island in 2016, criticized the Senate bill earlier this week as “one of the most absurd things I’ve ever heard of.” He added that Goldin should be “ashamed” of the measure.