Race-Based Claim by Sen. Rogers Brings Call for Resignation

A top Democratic leader on Monday demanded the resignation of a Republican legislator who claimed he was exempt from paying federal income taxes because of what he said was his “white man’s citizenship.”

State Sen. Richard G. Polanco of Los Angeles, chairman of the majority Senate Democratic caucus, called on state Sen. Don Rogers of Tehachapi to resign. Other Democrats prepared formal complaints seeking Rogers’ ouster.

The demands were made in the aftermath of reports late last week that the veteran lawmaker had declared himself in 1992 a “nonresident alien” and holder of a “white man’s citizenship” for income tax purposes.

At the time, Rogers was fighting an effort by the Internal Revenue Service to collect about $150,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties. Eventually, the dispute was settled.

In documents filed at the courthouse in Sonoma County, Rogers claimed that the Constitution’s 14th Amendment, which granted citizenship to former slaves after the Civil War, exempted white males born in the United States from income taxes.

A Sonoma County government official said the document carried no legal authority but was remarkably similar to political statements filed by tax protesters such as the “freemen” movement in some Western states. Rogers is a defender of militias that claim governmental powers threaten the liberties of citizens.

On Monday, Polanco and fellow Democratic Sen. Diane Watson of Los Angeles and Tom Hayden of Santa Monica assailed Rogers, who is serving his final year in the Legislature because of term limits.

“This person who has aligned himself with the militias has now aligned himself with the notion that people don’t have to pay taxes if they happen to be of a certain color and gender,” Polanco told reporters. Even though Rogers will retire this year, Polanco said Rogers “ought to do everyone a favor and shorten his stay, expedite it. He ought to move forward and submit his resignation.”

As he hurried to an elevator a few minutes later, Rogers told reporters: “No, I’m not going to [resign].”

Rogers has told the Bakersfield Californian that he later decided the claim on which he based his tax argument had no merit.

Hayden and Watson criticized Rogers during Senate floor speeches.

Later, Watson said she will file complaints against Rogers with the Senate rules and ethics committees, charging that he cannot legally hold his Senate seat at the same time he proclaims himself a noncitizen.

“Is tax dodging a new form of welfare for the militant right?” Watson said in a statement. “How ironic that the very same extreme conservatives that would dismantle our safety net and block opportunity for women and minority students would be quietly renouncing their U.S. citizenship to avoid taxes.”

Senate leader Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), who also has criticized Rogers, said it was uncertain whether an investigation will be done or which committee would handle it.

Lockyer said that if the Rules Committee investigates and finds Rogers acted improperly, it could recommend his expulsion, which would require a two-thirds vote of the Senate. A lesser penalty, such as censure, would require only a majority vote, he said.