HELENA (AP) -- Gov. Brian Schweitzer said Republicans are engaging in "political malpractice" for failing to support his plans to go after out-of-state tax debtors.

Schweitzer, a Democrat, is seeking money and new laws for the Department of Revenue to audit and pursue nonresident individuals and corporations who do not pay state taxes.

Republicans in the House and the Senate have so far resisted the plans, and are looking to strip resources out of budget that Schweitzer says is necessary for the Department of Revenue to get the job done.

The issue resurfaced Monday at a Senate committee's hearing on a budget bill.

Republicans on the committee supported House GOP plans to kill the new audit plans.

The bill before the committee is just one of the GOP budget measures being reworked by the Senate's majority Democrats.

"Just do your jobs instead of ... trying to expand," Sen. Corey Stapleton, R-Billings, told the director of the Department of Revenue.

He said the agency has grown from 534 employees in 2000 to about 600 now -- and Schweitzer's plans would add about 100 more.

"The question is, do we allow the department to expand instead of prioritize," Stapleton said. "They have all the laws they need. They have all the personnel they need."

Schweitzer, in an interview, said he doesn't understand why Republicans would spend political capital defending nonresidents who don't pay taxes they owe.

He also argues that out-of-state businesses get an unfair advantage by not paying taxes their Montana-based competitors pay.

Schweitzer said a rule in politics is "don't tax me, don't tax thee, tax the one behind the tree. Well, we found the one behind the tree."

The governor said he believes that Montanans who overwhelmingly pay their taxes on time support the idea of catching nonresidents who are slow to pay.

The plan would involve new auditors and staff, along with law changes to let Montana extend its collection efforts into other states.

The Department of Revenue touts a finding that a small increase in audit resources approved two years ago has helped create a big jump in collections from delinquent taxpayers or tax cheats.

Republicans say the new authority sought by the department might be abused, and existing resources should enable the agency to collect taxes.

The bill is House Bill 820