New bill would give gov't audits in Montana teeth

Approved with unanimous bipartisan support from the Montana Legislative Audit Committee in December, a new bill would tighten state auditing rules, including adding penalties for state employees who do not comply with audits.

Attached to the Montana legislature, which just started its 2023 session, the committee audits state government programs and departments to ensure that budgeting is spent as intended and that state programming is running. However, auditors have been complaining that state employees' lack of diligence in complying with requests for information has been causing delays in the auditing process for decades. 

"Montana's Legislative Audit Committee has been working with its staff to research best practices relating to audit access. SB73 is the genesis of that work," said Eric Seidle, content editor for the Montana Legislative Branch. "Research showed that many other states have robust laws that help enforce access rights to auditors. The bill draft language aims to protect the voice of state employees while holding those in elected or appointed positions more accountable, ensuring lawmakers, citizens and taxpayers that money is properly accounted for and laws are effectively implemented."

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It took the commission's legal team more than a week of peer-state research to determine the most effective strategy to ensure compliance. After combing through more than two dozen states' legal statutes, the staff found that 19 of them enforced some kind of penalty for obstructing or interfering with an auditor's access. For example, Wyoming classifies noncompliance as a felony. 

Currently, the Montana Audit Act doesn't have penalties for state employees or departments who refuse to comply with the auditing process. With the new legislation, however, a violation of Montana's Official Misconduct Code could result in a fee of up to $500, termination and even jail time. Carried by Republican Sen. Tom McGillvray, the bill would also make materials under review confidential until after the release of the audit. 

"All state government auditors, including here at the Montana Legislative Audit Division, aim to increase trust in state government," said Seidle. "As staff within this division, we are the checks and balances of the state for its citizens. Fundamentally, it's why we all come to work. Ensuring taxpayers can rely on our information is vital to government transparency and makes any bill regarding access to information relevant."

At the moment, the Montana Legislative Audit Division is also working on another bill. If passed, HB 132 would bring Montana in line with 49 other states in conducting an annual single government audit of all federal finances provided to the state. Currently, this audit is being conducted every two years.