President Trump signs stopgap spending bill hours ahead of shutdown deadline. The government would have shutdown at midnight last night without his signature. Now it can stay open until the stopgap measure expires on December 20. The spending bill also funds the 2020 US census and a military pay increase, and extends some surveillance programs from mid-December to March. Lawmakers remain far apart on agency funding bills and on hot-button issues such as funding the president’s border wall. 

California’s Supreme Court invalidates a state law requiring candidates to release tax returns. The court ruled unanimously that the California constitution does not allow the state to compel candidates for president or governor to release their tax returns to be on the state’s primary ballot. The court ruled that the law that requires five years of returns, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in July, conflicts with the constitutional requirement for an inclusive open presidential primary ballot.

Nearly a third of Utah taxpayers will pay more under lawmakers’ new tax plan. The proposal would reduce the overall tax burden by $80 million, but a legislative staff analysis shows that 31 percent of individual tax filers would pay more. Tax filers who cannot claim a personal exemption, such as young adults still listed by their parents as dependents, are the most likely to have to pay more.

Online food delivery platforms may be setting themselves up for tax trouble. While GrubHub says it has collected hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes for delivery and service fees in states since 2011. Recode reports that in some states, competing platforms DoorDash, Postmates and Uber Eats don’t seem to be collecting taxes. 

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