An Act To Require Background Investigations for Certain Individuals To Receive Federal Tax Information in Accordance with Federal Standards
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1931
Committee: Labor and Housing
Sponsors: SYLVESTER
Amends: 25 MRSA §1542-A, 26 MRSA §1085

Legislative Document
No. 1931
H.P. 1375
House of Representatives, January 8, 2020
An Act To Require Background Investigations for Certain 
Individuals To Receive Federal Tax Information in Accordance with 
Federal Standards
(EMERGENCY)
Submitted by the Department of Labor pursuant to Joint Rule 203.
Reference to the Committee on Labor and Housing suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative SYLVESTER of Portland.
Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, the Department of Labor is currently under a security compliance audit by 
the United States Internal Revenue Service; and
Whereas, loss of access to federal tax information by the department could cause 
irreparable damage to the enforcement efforts of the department; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  25 MRSA §1542-A, sub-§1, ¶U is enacted to read:
U.  Who is an affected person, as defined in Title 26, section 1085, subsection 1, 
paragraph A, whose fingerprints have been required by the department pursuant to 
Title 26, section 1085.
Sec. 2.  25 MRSA §1542-A, sub-§3, ¶T is enacted to read:
T.  The State Police shall take or cause to be taken the fingerprints of the person 
named in subsection 1, paragraph U at the request of that person and upon payment 
of the expenses by the Department of Labor, Bureau of Unemployment 
Compensation as specified under Title 26, section 1085, subsection 3.
Sec. 3.  25 MRSA §1542-A, sub-§4-A is enacted to read:
4-A.  Duty to submit fingerprints to State Bureau of Identification; affected 
persons under Title 26, section 1085.  Fingerprints taken pursuant to subsection 1, 
paragraph U must be transmitted immediately to the State Bureau of Identification to 
enable the bureau to conduct state and national criminal history record checks for the 
Department of Labor.
Sec. 4.  26 MRSA §1085 is enacted to read:
§1085.  Access to federal tax information; background investigation requirements
1.  Definitions.  As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the 
following terms have the following meanings.
A.  "Affected person" means a person who is:
(1)  An applicant for employment with the bureau who will have access to federal 
tax information as part of that employment;
(2)  A contractor for the bureau who provides or is assigned to provide services to 
the bureau under an identified contract. For the purposes of this subparagraph, 
"identified contract" means a contract that the Director of Unemployment 
Compensation determines involves access, or the substantial possibility of access, 
to the bureau's information technology systems that contain federal tax 
information;
(3)  An employee of the bureau who has or will be given access to federal tax 
information as part of that employee's employment with the bureau and has not 
undergone a federal background investigation within the past 10 years; or
(4)  An employee or contractor of another state agency, if the bureau determines 
the duties of that employee or contractor involve access or the substantial 
possibility of access through the bureau to federal tax information obtained from 
the United States Internal Revenue Service or the Department of Administrative 
and Financial Services, Bureau of Revenue Services.
B.  "Contractor" includes a contractor's employees and subcontractors and employees 
of those subcontractors.
C.  "Federal tax information" means returns and return information as defined in the 
United States Internal Revenue Code of 1986, Section 6103(b) that are received 
directly from the United States Internal Revenue Service or obtained through a 
secondary source authorized by the Internal Revenue Service and that are subject to 
the confidentiality protections and safeguarding requirements of the United States 
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 and corresponding federal regulations and guidance. 
"Federal tax information" also includes information received as part of the treasury 
offset program under the authority of the United States Internal Revenue Code of 
1986, Section 6103(l)(10) from the United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau 
of the Fiscal Service.  "Federal tax information" does not include information in the 
possession of the State that is obtained by means wholly from sources independent 
from the Internal Revenue Service.
2.  Federal background investigation requirements.  The Bureau of 
Unemployment Compensation shall perform background investigations for affected 
persons in accordance with this subsection.  A federal background investigation 
conducted pursuant to this subsection must include fingerprinting and obtaining national 
criminal history record information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and must 
satisfy the background investigation standards established by the United States Internal 
Revenue Service regarding access to federal tax information. 
A.  As part of the process of evaluating an affected person for employment with the 
bureau involving access to federal tax information, a federal background 
investigation must be conducted before an offer of employment is extended. 
B.  A federal background investigation for an affected person assigned to provide 
services to the bureau under an identified contract must be conducted before that 
affected person begins providing services to the bureau and at least once every 10 
years as long as the affected person continues providing services to the bureau. 
C.  As part of the process of evaluating an affected person for continued employment 
with the bureau, a federal background investigation must be conducted at least once 
every 10 years. If an affected person has not been subject to a federal background 
investigation within 10 years prior to the effective date of this section, a federal 
background investigation must be conducted within one year of the effective date of 
this section.
D.  A federal background investigation for an affected person who is an employee or 
contractor of another state agency must be conducted before that affected person is 
provided access, or the substantial possibility of access, to federal tax information 
obtained from the bureau and at least once every 10 years as long as the affected 
person continues to have such access, except that, if the bureau determines that the 
affected person has been subject to a background investigation that satisfies the 
background investigation standards established by the United States Internal Revenue 
Service regarding access to federal tax information within the past 10 years, no 
further investigations are required under this paragraph for the 10-year period 
commencing at the time of the federal background investigation.
3.  Fingerprinting.  An affected person must consent to having fingerprints taken for 
use in background investigations in accordance with this subsection.  The State Police 
shall take or cause to be taken the affected person's fingerprints and shall forward the 
fingerprints to the Department of Public Safety, State Bureau of Identification so that the 
State Bureau of Identification can conduct state and national criminal history record 
checks for the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation.  The State Police may charge the 
Bureau of Unemployment Compensation for the expenses incurred in processing state 
and national criminal history record checks.  The full fee charged under this subsection 
must be deposited in a dedicated revenue account for the State Bureau of Identification 
with the purpose of paying costs associated with the maintenance and replacement of the 
criminal history record systems.
4.  Confidentiality.  All information obtained by the bureau pursuant to this section 
is confidential and not a public record as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3.  
The information may be used only for making decisions regarding the suitability of an 
affected person for new or continued employment with the bureau, to provide services to 
the bureau under an identified contract or to access federal tax information obtained from 
the bureau.
5.  Affected person's access to criminal history record information.  The bureau 
shall provide an affected person with access to information obtained pursuant to this 
section, if requested, by providing a paper copy of the criminal history record information 
directly to the affected person, but only after the bureau confirms that the affected person 
is the subject of the record.  In addition, the bureau shall publish guidance on requesting 
such information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
6.  Disqualifying offenses; refusal to consent.  The Director of Unemployment 
Compensation shall review the information obtained under this section and determine 
whether an affected person has a disqualifying offense that would prohibit authorizing 
that individual to access federal tax information.  Refusal by the affected person to 
consent to the background investigation requirements under this section is deemed a 
disqualifying offense.
The following applies to an affected person who has a disqualifying offense:
A.  The bureau may not employ or utilize that affected person in a position for which 
access to federal tax information is required;
B.  If the affected person is an employee of the bureau or is assigned to provide 
services to the bureau under an identified contract and the director of the bureau has 
authorized the affected person to access federal tax information, the bureau shall 
terminate that affected person's access and may remove that affected person from any 
position that involves access, or the substantial possibility of access, to federal tax 
information. If the affected person is an employee of the bureau, the bureau shall 
make a reasonable effort to retain that person as an employee in another position 
within the bureau that does not require access to federal tax information; and
C.  If the affected person is an employee or contractor of another state agency, the 
bureau shall notify the other agency and the agency shall terminate the affected 
person's access, or substantial possibility of access, to federal tax information and 
may remove that affected person from any position that involves such access. If the 
affected person is an employee of the other agency, the agency shall make a 
reasonable effort to retain that person as an employee in another position that does 
not require access to federal tax information.
Emergency clause.  In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.
SUMMARY
This bill implements background investigations for certain individuals with a 
business need to receive federal tax information, in order to meet United States Internal 
Revenue Service standards.