Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 676.1
                                                     HOUSE BILL NO. 676
                                                INTRODUCED BY J. GILLETTE
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   A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: “AN ACT GENERALLY REVISING LAWS RELATED TO THE MEDICAID
   AND CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAMS; ESTABLISHING ELIGIBILITY VERIFICATION
   PROCEDURES AND REQUIREMENTS; PROHIBITING CONTINUOUS ELIGIBILITY FOR THE MEDICAID
   EXPANSION PROGRAM AND EXTENDED ELIGIBILITY FOR THE 1931 MEDICAID PROGRAM; REVISING
   COPAYMENT REQUIREMENTS FOR THE CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM; REQUIRING
   CONSIDERATION OF ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSE REDUCTIONS BEFORE MAKING REDUCTIONS TO
   SERVICES IN MEDICAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS; PROVIDING DEFINITIONS; AMENDING SECTIONS
   15-30-2618, 15-31-511, 53-2-215, 53-2-613, 53-4-1002, 53-4-1003, 53-4-1004, 53-4-1008, 53-4-1115, 53-6-
   101, 53-6-131, 53-6-133, 53-6-134, AND 53-6-1304, MCA; AMENDING SECTION 48, CHAPTER 415, LAWS
   OF 2019; AND PROVIDING EFFECTIVE DATES AND A CONTINGENT TERMINATION DATE.”
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   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:
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              Section 1. Section 15-30-2618, MCA, is amended to read:
              "15-30-2618.     (Temporary) Confidentiality of tax records. (1) Except as provided in 5-12-303, 15-1-
   106, 17-7-111, and subsections (7) through (9) of this section, in accordance with a proper judicial order, or as
   otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful to divulge or make known in any manner:
              (a)   the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any individual report or individual
   return required under this chapter or any other information secured in the administration of this chapter; or
              (b)   any federal return or federal return information disclosed on any return or report required by rule of
   the department or under this chapter.
              (2)   (a) The officers charged with the custody of the reports and returns may not be required to
   produce them or evidence of anything contained in them in an action or proceeding in a court, except in an
   action or proceeding:
              (i)   to which the department is a party under the provisions of this chapter or any other taxing act; or
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67th Legislature                                                                                                          HB 676.1
              (ii) on behalf of a party to any action or proceedings under the provisions of this chapter or other taxes
   when the reports or facts shown by the reports are directly involved in the action or proceedings.
              (b)   The court may require the production of and may admit in evidence only as much of the reports or
   of the facts shown by the reports as are pertinent to the action or proceedings.
              (3)   This section does not prohibit:
              (a)   the delivery to a taxpayer or the taxpayer's authorized representative of a certified copy of any
   return or report filed in connection with the taxpayer's tax;
              (b)   the publication of statistics classified to prevent the identification of particular reports or returns
   and the items of particular reports or returns; or
              (c)   the inspection by the attorney general or other legal representative of the state of the report or
   return of any taxpayer who brings an action to set aside or review the tax based on the report or return or
   against whom an action or proceeding has been instituted in accordance with the provisions of 15-30-2630.
              (4)   The department may deliver to a taxpayer's spouse the taxpayer's return or information related to
   the return for a tax year if the spouse and the taxpayer filed the return with the filing status of married filing
   separately on the same return. The information being provided to the spouse or reported on the return,
   including subsequent adjustments or amendments to the return, must be treated in the same manner as if the
   spouse and the taxpayer filed the return using a joint filing status for that tax year.
              (5)   Reports and returns must be preserved for at least 3 years and may be preserved until the
   department orders them to be destroyed.
              (6)   Any offense against subsections (1) through (5) is punishable by a fine not exceeding $500. If the
   offender is an officer or employee of the state, the offender must be dismissed from office or employment and
   may not hold any public office or public employment in this state for a period of 1 year after dismissal or, in the
   case of a former officer or employee, for 1 year after conviction.
              (7)   This section may not be construed to prohibit the department from providing taxpayer return
   information and information from employers' payroll withholding reports to:
              (a)   the department of labor and industry to be used for the purpose of investigation and prevention of
   noncompliance, tax evasion, fraud, and abuse under the unemployment insurance laws;
              (b)   the state fund to be used for the purpose of investigation and prevention of noncompliance, fraud,
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67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 676.1
   and abuse under the workers' compensation program; or
              (c)   the department of public health and human services to verify, as required under 53-6-133, the
   income reported by applicants for medical assistance under the children's health insurance program provided
   for in Title 53, chapter 4, part 10, and the medicaid program provided for in Title 53, chapter 6, part 1.
              (8)   The department may permit the commissioner of internal revenue of the United States or the
   proper officer of any state imposing a tax on the incomes of individuals or the authorized representative of
   either officer to inspect the return of income of any individual or may furnish to the officer or an authorized
   representative an abstract of the return of income of any individual or supply the officer with information
   concerning an item of income contained in a return or disclosed by the report of an investigation of the income
   or return of income of an individual, but the permission may be granted or information furnished only if the
   statutes of the United States or of the other state grant substantially similar privileges to the proper officer of
   this state charged with the administration of this chapter.
              (9)   On written request to the director or a designee of the director, the department shall furnish:
              (a)   to the department of justice all information necessary to identify those persons qualifying for the
   additional exemption for blindness pursuant to 15-30-2114(4), for the purpose of enabling the department of
   justice to administer the provisions of 61-5-105;
              (b)   to the department of public health and human services information acquired under 15-30-2616,
   pertaining to an applicant for public assistance, reasonably necessary for the prevention and detection of public
   assistance fraud and abuse, provided notice to the applicant has been given;
              (c)   to the department of labor and industry:
              (i)   for the purpose of prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in and eligibility for benefits under
   the unemployment compensation and workers' compensation programs, information on whether a taxpayer
   who is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the department of labor and industry is an employee, an
   independent contractor, or self-employed; and
              (ii) for the purpose of administering the apprenticeship tax credit provided for in 39-6-109, employer
   and apprentice information necessary to implement 15-30-2357, 15-31-173, and 39-6-109;
              (d)   to the department of fish, wildlife, and parks specific information that is available from income tax
   returns and required under 87-2-102 to establish the residency requirements of an applicant for hunting and
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 676.1
   fishing licenses;
              (e)   to the board of regents information required under 20-26-1111;
              (f)   to the legislative fiscal analyst and the office of budget and program planning individual income tax
   information as provided in 5-12-303, 15-1-106, and 17-7-111. The information provided to the office of budget
   and program planning must be the same as the information provided to the legislative fiscal analyst.
              (g)   to the department of transportation farm income information based on the most recent income tax
   return filed by an applicant applying for a refund under 15-70-430, provided that notice to the applicant has
   been given as provided in 15-70-430. The information obtained by the department of transportation is subject to
   the same restrictions on disclosure as are individual income tax returns.
              (h)   to the department of commerce tax information about a taxpayer whose debt is assigned to the
   department of revenue for offset or collection pursuant to the terms of Title 17, chapter 4, part 1. The
   information provided to the department of commerce must be used for the purposes of preventing and detecting
   fraud or abuse and determining eligibility for grants or loans.
              (i)   to the superintendent of public instruction information required under 20-9-905. (Terminates June
   30, 2025, on occurrence of contingency--sec. 48, Ch. 415, L. 2019; subsection Subsection (9)(i) terminates
   December 31, 2023--sec. 33, Ch. 457, L. 2015.)
              15-30-2618.     (Effective July 1, 2025, on occurrence of contingency) Confidentiality of tax
   records.(1) Except as provided in 5-12-303, 15-1-106, 17-7-111, and subsections (8) and (9) of this section, in
   accordance with a proper judicial order, or as otherwise provided by law, it is unlawful to divulge or make known
   in any manner:
              (a)   the amount of income or any particulars set forth or disclosed in any individual report or individual
   return required under this chapter or any other information secured in the administration of this chapter; or
              (b)   any federal return or federal return information disclosed on any return or report required by rule of
   the department or under this chapter.
              (2)   (a) The officers charged with the custody of the reports and returns may not be required to
   produce them or evidence of anything contained in them in an action or proceeding in a court, except in an
   action or proceeding:
              (i)   to which the department is a party under the provisions of this chapter or any other taxing act; or
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67th Legislature                                                                                                          HB 676.1
              (ii) on behalf of a party to any action or proceedings under the provisions of this chapter or other taxes
   when the reports or facts shown by the reports are directly involved in the action or proceedings.
              (b)   The court may require the production of and may admit in evidence only as much of the reports or
   of the facts shown by the reports as are pertinent to the action or proceedings.
              (3)   This section does not prohibit:
              (a)   the delivery to a taxpayer or the taxpayer's authorized representative of a certified copy of any
   return or report filed in connection with the taxpayer's tax;
              (b)   the publication of statistics classified to prevent the identification of particular reports or returns
   and the items of particular reports or returns; or
              (c)   the inspection by the attorney general or other legal representative of the state of the report or
   return of any taxpayer who brings an action to set aside or review the tax based on the report or return or
   against whom an action or proceeding has been instituted in accordance with the provisions of15-30-2630.
              (4)   The department may deliver to a taxpayer's spouse the taxpayer's return or information related to
   the return for a tax year if the spouse and the taxpayer filed the return with the filing status of married filing
   separately on the same return. The information being provided to the spouse or reported on the return,
   including subsequent adjustments or amendments to the return, must be treated in the same manner as if the
   spouse and the taxpayer filed the return using a joint filing status for that tax year.
              (5)   Reports and returns must be preserved for at least 3 years and may be preserved until the
   department orders them to be destroyed.
              (6)   Any offense against subsections (1) through (5) is punishable by a fine not exceeding $500. If the
   offender is an officer or employee of the state, the offender must be dismissed from office or employment and
   may not hold any public office or public employment in this state for a period of 1 year after dismissal or, in the
   case of a former officer or employee, for 1 year after conviction.
              (7)   This section may not be construed to prohibit the department from providing taxpayer return
   information and information from employers' payroll withholding reports to:
              (a)   the department of labor and industry to be used for the purpose of investigation and prevention of
   noncompliance, tax evasion, fraud, and abuse under the unemployment insurance laws; or
              (b)   the state fund to be used for the purpose of investigation and prevention of noncompliance, fraud,
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67th Legislature                                                                                                      HB 676.1
   and abuse under the workers' compensation program.
              (8)   The department may permit the commissioner of internal revenue of the United States or the
   proper officer of any state imposing a tax on the incomes of individuals or the authorized representative of
   either officer to inspect the return of income of any individual or may furnish to the officer or an authorized
   representative an abstract of the return of income of any individual or supply the officer with information
   concerning an item of income contained in a return or disclosed by the report of an investigation of the income
   or return of income of an individual, but the permission may be granted or information furnished only if the
   statutes of the United States or of the other state grant substantially similar privileges to the proper officer of
   this state charged with the administration of this chapter.
              (9)   On written request to the director or a designee of the director, the department shall furnish:
              (a)   to the department of justice all information necessary to identify those persons qualifying for the
   additional exemption for blindness pursuant to15-30-2114(4), for the purpose of enabling the department of
   justice to administer the provisions of 61-5-105;
              (b)   to the department of public health and human services information acquired under15-30-2616,
   pertaining to an applicant for public assistance, reasonably necessary for the prevention and detection of public
   assistance fraud and abuse, provided notice to the applicant has been given;
              (c)   to the department of labor and industry:
              (i)   for the purpose of prevention and detection of fraud and abuse in and eligibility for benefits under
   the unemployment compensation and workers' compensation programs, information on whether a taxpayer
   who is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the department of labor and industry is an employee, an
   independent contractor, or self-employed; and
              (ii) for the purpose of administering the apprenticeship tax credit provided for in39-6-109, employer and
   apprentice information necessary to implement 15-30-2357, 15-31-173, and 39-6-109;
              (d)   to the department of fish, wildlife, and parks specific information that is available from income tax
   returns and required under87-2-102to establish the residency requirements of an applicant for hunting and
   fishing licenses;
              (e)   to the board of regents information required under20-26-1111;
              (f)   to the legislative fiscal analyst and the office of budget and program planning individual income tax
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67th Legislature                                                                                                     HB 676.1
   information as provided in5-12-303, 15-1-106, and 17-7-111. The information provided to the office of budget
   and program planning must be the same as the information provided to the legislative fiscal analyst.
              (g)   to the department of transportation farm income info