House lawmaker pushes for county-level technology upgrades across state

Unlike new roads and bridges, information technology investments don’t create the ribbon-cutting photo ops that are shown on the local news.

However, they are essential to the work done for the Department of Human Services at both the state and county level.

In the last biennium, the IT infrastructure at the state level was given a much-needed upgrade.

That upgrade did not trickle down to counties.

Rep. Bianca Virnig

Laid over Tuesday for possible omnibus bill inclusion by the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee, HF1911 looks to make a significant investment in the county IT infrastructure across the state.

Rep. Bianca Virnig (DFL-Eagan), the bill sponsor, said the current county system is delaying services and increasing administrative work, which is making it harder for county workers to do their work effectively.

“I think we can all agree that systems modernization efforts have not kept pace with the rapidly evolving technology and service landscape,” Virnig said. “The challenges counties and tribes face in delivering essential human services are not due to the lack of dedication from our workforce, they are due to the outdated, fragmented systems that make their jobs harder.”

The bill would take three steps to improve the IT infrastructure at the county level:

• appropriate $5 million in onetime funding in fiscal year 2026 for counties to offset costs related to implementing the department’s IT initiatives;
• provide a yet-to-be-determined appropriation for fiscal year 2026 for grants to counties for IT modernization and infrastructure projects; and
• appropriate $40 million in fiscal year 2026 to the Department of Children, Youth, and Families for improvements to the social services information system as onetime funding available until June 30, 2027.

“I recognize that these are significant investments especially in a year with limited available funding. However, county-run and county-funded systems are just as critical as state systems in ensuring an efficient, effective human services workforce,” Virnig said. “If we want to improve service delivery, support our frontline workers and ensure Minnesotans receive the care they need, modernizing these systems is not optional it is necessary.”

“I want to emphasize that this request is not about nice-to-have updates,” said Clay County Commissioner Jenny Mongeau. “These resources are essential to bring county programs up to a basic level of operability. County IT modernization has been identified as a top priority from the Association of Minnesota Counties because it impacts some of the most critical issues facing counties today.”