Rogers Entitled to Hold Office, Legislative Counsel Says

State Sen. Don Rogers (R-Tehachapi) didn’t disqualify himself from office or violate legislative ethics by claiming he wasn’t a U.S. citizen and didn’t have to pay federal income taxes, the Legislature’s attorney said Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Senate’s leader said Rogers probably won’t be punished by fellow legislators for making his tax claim.

“I think the most commonly expressed view has been that the statements are idiotic and people have a right to be idiotic and we do not punish idiotic ideas,” said Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward).

Rogers did not have an immediate reaction to the statements. The senator, one of the Legislature’s most conservative members, filed a document in 1992 claiming that he was a “nonresident alien” with a “white man’s citizenship” and wasn’t subject to federal income taxes.

That was the same year that Rogers filed for protection under federal bankruptcy laws after the Internal Revenue Service sought nearly $150,000 in back taxes, interest and penalties from him.

In an opinion signed by Deputy Counsel Peter Melnicoe, the legislative counsel’s office said the document didn’t amount to a renunciation of citizenship that would disqualify Rogers from serving in the Legislature.

“The above-described documents do not disqualify Sen. Rogers from membership in the Senate based upon failure to meet the constitutional requirement of United States citizenship or California residency,” the opinion said.