A bill to allow state government entities to exchange state tax data in support of public assistance fraud investigations was filed by the Idaho House Health and Welfare Committee on Monday.
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, a state government organization that oversees Medicaid, the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program, and public assistance programs like SNAP (previously known as food stamps), introduced the measure.
According to Idaho Department of Health and Welfare Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Chief Jared Larsen, Health and Welfare can now utilize subpoenas to obtain bank records in order to gather income data for benefit fraud investigations, but that procedure is invasive, he told the committee. Additionally, he stated that banking institutions outside of Idaho are not usually required to comply with the agency’s subpoenas.
The recently presented bill would allow the Idaho State Tax Commission to enter into a partnership with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, allowing the state tax agency to share information and records of individuals’ income tax returns in order to support investigations into public assistance fraud.
According to the bill’s statement of purpose, exchanging tax information would enable investigators to use their time more effectively and significantly cut down on the amount of time spent on fraud investigations.
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The measure states that unless it is utilized in the course of a legal procedure originating under this state’s laws, none of the information given with Health and Welfare would be made public.
Larsen informed the committee that Health and Welfare had been working on the plan for two years. Additionally, he stated that the Idaho State Tax Commission had no issues with it.
With minimal debate, the committee introduced the bill by unanimous voice vote. The bill’s introduction sets the stage for a thorough committee hearing, which will include public testimony and a potential vote to move it to the Idaho House floor.
It is anticipated that the measure will soon be accessible to the general public on the website of the Idaho Legislature.
The bill would go into effect on July 1st if it were to become law.
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