Hello from the State Capitol,
The Democrat shutdown in St. Paul has now entered its 18th day, and there appears to be no end in sight.
Last week the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled that without 68 representatives in attendance, the Minnesota House could not conduct business. To date, Republicans have 67 members. House Democrats currently have 66. Because House Democrats don’t want to work with Republicans in the majority, they are trying to make a power play by refusing to go to work and standing in the way of any legislative progress that can be made on behalf of the people of Minnesota.
To date, Minnesota’s taxpayers have paid out more than $170,000 to Democrats who are refusing to do their jobs. With each passing day, you pay roughly $10,000 more for 66 people to play hooky.
As for me, I travel to St. Paul every day and have been studying the budget, meeting with constituents, and looking into fraud.
MORE FRAUD FOUND AS FRAUD COMMITTEE SHELVED
Speaking of fraud, on Tuesday, we learned the Department of Human Services has 62 active investigations into childcare facilities in the Child Care Assistance Program across the state thanks to a KSTP report, which you can view here.
Then on Thursday, a KARE 11 investigation found potential fraud by a non-profit that may have cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Click here to watch that story.
These are the latest examples of fraud that is running rampant throughout state government. More than $1 billion – that we know about - has been stolen from the taxpayers over the past few years under Governor Walz’s leadership, and we keep getting more examples seemingly by the week.
We created the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee in the Minnesota House to tackle massive fraud situations just like these. But with a recent Supreme Court ruling preventing any official Minnesota House activity from taking place until 68 state representatives show up for work, the committee has been sidelined.
We’ve got a major fraud problem going on in this state, and the Democrat shutdown is standing in the way of lawmakers finding ways to stop the theft of your tax dollars.
DISTRICT VISITORS
This week, I enjoyed meeting with constituents that serve on township boards, as well as motorcyclists from the American Bikers for Awareness, Training and Education (ABATE) organization. I was also able to provide a legislative update at the Oak Grove City Council meeting.
Republican members of the Judiciary and Civil Law working group also gathered this week, hearing from representatives from Civil Legal Services and the Competency Attainment Board.
Have a good weekend,
Peggy