Dear Neighbor.
Hope your summer is going well. Just wanted to send a quick update with some of my recent notes since the end of this week brings us to 60 days removed from the end of session, at which point House members are prohibited from sending newsletters such as this until after the November election.
Ag update
On the ag side, this has been a challenging growing season so far in 2024. Areas in the far western part of the state, along with counties in southern Minnesota, have been subjected to copious amounts of rain. The period from April through the present has been one of the wettest on record in many locations. Thousands of acres were put into the “Prevent Plant” program and countless other fields have large drowned-out spots and crops that have been under water too long to survive.
Despite the problems in Minnesota and neighboring states, commodity prices have been on a steady decline for weeks. I like to compare the cost of items that farmers use when planting a crop, and what the relative value of their corn or soybean crop is. With the price of corn well below $4 a bushel in my area, it doesn’t compare very well. Take diesel fuel, for example. At the pump, diesel is around $3.65 per gallon, which means it takes roughly one bushel of corn to purchase one gallon of fuel.
That’s shocking! When I was a kid, diesel was 20 cents a gallon, and corn was two bucks. That’s a ratio of 10:1. In recent years, that ratio has been around 2:1 or 3:1. If prices farmers receive stay this low for very long, it’s going to be difficult (no, make that impossible!) to show any kind of positive return for growing bulk commodities such as corn, soybeans or wheat.
Childcare regulations
Access to affordable childcare remains in short supply for many families in our state, especially in Greater Minnesota. This has a wide range of impacts and is a contributing factor making it difficult to attract and retain skilled workers.
The reason I bring this up is our state should be doing more to help expand childcare availability, but it instead is only making it more difficult for providers to operate. The state has produced 97 pages of proposed rules for family childcare to follow. This rather lengthy list includes must-have toys and a detailed cleaning schedule. It also includes many prohibitions, such as no pet hair, no air fresheners, and no music or white noise machines if the provider isn't directly supervising a sleeping baby.
These draft proposals are onerous, unnecessary and could deal a major blow to an industry that already is suffering. It would be good to see the governor show some leadership on this issue by reeling in his administration so a more reasonable draft of childcare regulations is in place before it is sent to the Legislature for action in the 2025 session. I will continue supporting our local childcare providers and do not support these burdensome regulations. Watch for more as this issue unfolds. In the meantime, click here for an article on this subject.
Fraud investigations
Cases of fraud in state programs continue surfacing and now Minnesota autism centers are the subject of an investigation. Reports show that the number of providers has increased 700% in the last five years, and payments to those providers has exploded by 3,000%. Sources who administer Medical Assistance see widespread concern about fraud in the program.
This is just the latest in a series of fraud cases in Minnesota, in what amounts to theft of tax dollars. The Minnesota Legislative Auditor recently issued a pair of reports indicating failed oversight has led to hundreds of millions of tax dollars being lost to fraud.
Last month, the OLA reported lax administration created opportunities for an estimated $250 million in taxpayer revenue to be the subject of fraud in the Feeding our Future program. That news came just after the OLA reported it found frontline worker payments were made to people who were not eligible or whose eligibility could not be determined. This included fraudulent duplicate applications including many from people who were deceased long before this program opened. In addition, the Department of Revenue did not verify all applicants met the adjusted gross income requirements.
We need more balance at the Capitol to improve program oversight and increase accountability to protect taxpayers from losses they’ve suffered under our state’s one-party control.
Look for more after the blackout on newsletters ends. Until then, I will continue doing my job working hard to represent the people of District 12A. Please stay touch, let me know how I can help and hope to see you around at local events the rest of this summer and into the fall.
Sincerely,
Paul