Committee hears bill to create tax credit for unpaid health‑care preceptors

Representative Kaye Walsh introduced House Bill 163 to the House Taxation Committee, proposing an income tax credit for unpaid health‑care preceptors who supervise eligible students in Montana health‑care training programs. The bill would award $1,000 per 100 hours of supervised clinical time, up to $5,000 per preceptor per year, and is written as a nonrefundable individual income tax credit, sponsor Walsh said.

Supporters told the committee the state faces a severe shortage of preceptors needed to give students required clinical experience, and that out‑of‑state programs sometimes pay Montana preceptors and draw those clinical placements away. "Clinical learning experiences have become a precious natural resource, particularly in rural states," said Representative Walsh. Dean of Nursing Sarah Shannon of Montana State University said preceptors enable students to learn diagnosis and patient care in real settings and described clinical placements as scarce: "Rather than giving this resource away to out‑of‑state programs and the highest bidder, Montana needs to step forward to preserve its preceptors for the benefit of Montana and Montanans."

Why it matters: Health professional students require large amounts of supervised clinical time — witnesses said 500 to 1,000 hours is common and that nurse practitioner students at MSU require about 765 hours. Proponents argued that financial incentives used in other states help keep clinical placements for in‑state students and therefore increase the likelihood that graduates remain in the state to practice.

Who testified: Proponents included Sarah Shannon, dean of nursing at Montana State University; John Cech, president of Carroll College; Liz Whiting, director of graduate medical education at Touro University (Great Falls); Heather O'Hara of the Montana Hospital Association; Tony King for the Montana Pharmacy Association; Eric Anderson for the Montana Nurses Association; Stacy Anderson for the Montana Primary Care Association and other provider associations; Joel Gaertig for the Montana State Firefighters Association (and a firefighter‑paramedic); and several practicing clinicians and program directors who described difficulty recruiting preceptors. Mariah Hill, a certified nurse‑midwife and MSU faculty member, described midwifery programs' difficulty finding preceptors and said many out‑of‑state programs that pay preceptors send students who do not remain in Montana. Opposing testimony was limited: Allen Lloyd, executive director of the Montana Society of CPAs, said the society opposes this approach to funding the effort and prefers direct state payments rather than income tax credits.

Implementation and administration: Jake Ford, bureau chief at the Department of Revenue's income and withholding taxes bureau, appeared informationally and was available to answer questions about administering the credit. Office of the Commissioner of Higher Education deputy commissioner Joseph Thiel provided informational context about clinical capacity statewide.

Key numeric and program details discussed in the hearing: proponents described $1,000 per 100 clinical hours as a median incentive used in other states (with a $5,000 annual cap in the bill); nurse practitioner clinical requirements of roughly 765 hours were cited for MSU students; witnesses said 54 of Montana's 56 counties are federally designated health professional shortage areas; Carroll College described plans for a physician assistant program that could eventually enroll about 120 students and noted preceptor capacity is a limiting factor; proponents listed other states (Georgia, Maryland, Colorado, Hawaii, Washington) that use direct pay or tax incentives to support preceptors.

Unresolved items and committee follow‑up: some proponents asked the sponsor and committee to consider expanding eligibility to additional clinician types — for example, a firefighter‑paramedic witness asked whether paramedics could be included by amendment. The Montana Society of CPAs recommended direct state funding instead of an income tax credit to avoid adding credits back into the income tax code. Representative Walsh closed the hearing; the committee did not vote on the bill at this hearing and said it will schedule executive action later.

Ending: The committee closed the hearing on House Bill 163 after roughly 50 minutes of testimony and questions; members said they would take executive action at a later date.