Massachusetts Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns to Appear on State Ballot Initiative (2018)
| Massachusetts Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns to Appear on State Ballot Initiative | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date November 6, 2018 | |
| Topic Elections and campaigns | |
| Status Not on the ballot | |
| Type State statute | Origin Citizens |
The Massachusetts Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates to Release Tax Returns to Appear on State Ballot Initiative was not on the ballot in Massachusetts as an indirect initiated state statute on November 6, 2018.
The measure would have required candidates for president and vice president of the United States to release their tax returns for the prior six years with a written consent given to the secretary of the commonwealth making their returns public. Candidates who did not release their tax returns would not have appeared on the presidential primary ballot.[1]
Text of measure
Petition summary
The petition summary was as follows:[2]
This proposed law would require candidates for President and Vice President of the United States to submit to the Secretary of the Commonwealth complete copies of the candidate’s individual federal income tax returns filed in the prior six years. It would also require the candidate to submit a written statement to the Secretary attesting to the tax returns’ completeness and consenting to redaction and required public disclosure of the tax returns by the Secretary. The proposed law would permit the candidate or Secretary to redact certain information from the returns in whole or in part, including minors’ names, government-issued identification numbers, and financial account numbers. The deadline for submittal of tax returns by candidates seeking to appear on the presidential primary ballot would be the first Friday in January of the year of the primary. If a candidate failed to comply with the proposed law’s requirements, his or her name could not appear on the primary ballot. A candidate’s failure to comply with the proposed law’s requirements would relieve that candidate’s delegates of their obligation to vote for the candidate in any roll-call vote at a national convention of a political party. The Secretary would be required to make the tax returns public 30 days before the primary or as soon as practicable. The deadline for submitting the tax returns (or updating an earlier disclosure) prior to the general election would be the last Tuesday in August before the election. If a candidate failed to comply with the proposed law’s requirements, the candidate’s name could not appear on the general election ballot. The proposed law would also apply to write-in candidates for president and vice president, who would be required to submit their tax returns 60 days before the general election. The Secretary would be required to make candidates’ tax returns public 50 days before the general election or as soon as practicable. |
Full text
The full text of the measure is available here.
Path to the ballot
In Massachusetts, the number of signatures required to place an indirect initiated state statute on the ballot is equal to 3.5 percent of votes cast for governor in the most recent gubernatorial election. The first 3 percent is collected in order to refer the indirect initiative to the Massachusetts General Court. If members of the General Court pass and the governor signs the initiative, then the initiative becomes law. If the legislature declines to act on an initiative or the governor vetoes it, sponsors of the initiative need to collect additional signatures equal to 0.5 percent of the votes cast for governor.
To make the 2018 ballot, sponsors of this initiative needed to collect the first round of 64,750 signatures between September 20, 2017, and November 22, 2017. Petitioners did not submit signatures to the office of the secretary of the commonwealth by the deadline on December 6, 2017. If signatures had been submitted, and the General Court had rejected or not acted on the initiative by May 2, 2018, then an additional 10,792 signatures would have been required by July 4, 2018.
On September 6, 2017, Attorney General Maura Healey (D) approved the initiative for signature gathering.[2]
See also
Footnotes
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