St. Paul, MN — In a continued push for government accountability, State Representatives Isaac Schultz (R-Elmdale Township) and Marion Rarick (R-Maple Lake), members of the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Committee, have sent a formal letter to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) requesting clarity on the partial recovery of an estimated $430 million in unemployment insurance overpayments made since 2020.
The letter follows a recent legislative hearing in which DEED officials acknowledged recovering only $77 million to date, less than 20% of the total improper payments—despite reporting a fraud rate below 1.4%.
“Minnesotans are staring down a $6 billion budget deficit,” said Rep. Schultz. “We cannot afford to shrug off hundreds of millions in mismanaged taxpayer dollars. Even if these overpayments were not intentional fraud, our citizens deserve to know what steps are being taken to make this right.”
The lawmakers requested a full accounting of the recovery progress and the strategies DEED is using to retrieve both fraudulent and non-fraudulent payments. The deadline for DEED’s response is May 5, 2025.
Rep. Rarick added, “Between the Feeding Our Future scandal and these UI overpayments, Minnesotans are losing faith in the government’s ability to safeguard public funds. We’re asking for urgency, transparency, and results.”
The letter reiterates the committee’s commitment to restoring public trust and ensuring that every possible dollar is returned to taxpayers.
A copy of the letter can be found below:
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