Dear Neighbor, It seems like the 2025 legislative session just started, but only eight full weeks remain to pass a budget and approve other important bills before our May 19 deadline to adjourn. The budget remains our biggest responsibility this session, especially with a $6 billion shortfall in the tails projected in our state. Tough decisions will need to be made, especially since the former Democrat trifecta spent the state’s $18 billion surplus and increased the state budget by 40 percent. The House also is now split 67-67, adding a layer of intrigue for how things will unfold. Look for more on the budget as discussions pick up. For now, here are some notes regarding other current topics in the House: Fraud On Monday, seven state agency commissioners, plus the Superintendent of the BCA joined the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy to present an overview of the governor’s proposed package to combat fraud.  We also conducted a press conference on Monday to not only discuss what the governor proposes, but to share information regarding the new mnfraud.com whistleblower portal that is now active. This website will serve as a hub where Minnesotans can register concerns about improprieties they witness or suspect in state program services. Basic information from the website will be triaged to the appropriate people, who can then follow up for more details. This is just one more way House Republicans are working to help crack down on rampant fraud in our state and I look forward to seeing positive results. Meanwhile, the governor’s recently issued proposal on fraud includes a few valuable provisions to address kickbacks (which are already federally illegal) and the theft of taxpayers’ funds. But overall, the governor bill is not a serious proposal to stop fraud and the theft of the taxpayers’ dollars. He only proposes increasing penalties for the top three theft categories by 20 percent – in a state where punishment for these crimes is far below federal criminal penalties for similar crimes. This is a drop in the bucket of any criminal penalty that will actually deter the organized fraud we are seeing. Furthermore, the governor proposes adding just one single new forensic auditor to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s unit that is tasked with investigating this highly sophisticated crime network that often has fraud happening across multiple state agencies and programs. By contrast, the governor is adding 151 new full-time employees to the Department of Human Services, where their internal Office of Inspector General already has 491 full time employees that are supposed to find and stop fraud. They have done a terrible job, in my opinion, doing just 1,000 investigations per year (yes, that is an average of two investigations per person, per year) and finding just $18 million of fraud out of a budget of $25 billion. Such a vast disparity speaks volumes about the governor’s priorities. Click here for my press conference comments on this subject. I wish his proposal on fraud were serious, but it just is not. We need to do much more to change the culture of waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs and that’s where House Republicans will keep our focus. Whistleblowers have painted a very different picture than what the seven commissioners painted on Monday, one of retaliation, abuse and rampant waste of your hard-earned tax dollars. During the press conference, I also addressed how ongoing meetings with whistleblowers across the state have been incredibly illuminating. I am also deeply concerned about the exorbitant salaries non-profit executives are paid that receive tax-payer dollars. I touched on this subject in last week’s newsletter. The Second Harvest Heartland CEO, for example, received more than $721,000 in 2022, the most recent year for which tax data is available. That non-profit’s top 10 staffers all made larger salaries than the governor ($127,000) that year totaling $3 million dollars – and this organization is not alone. We keep identifying specific gaps in the law that need to be closed and will continue working on bills to address those issues and protect taxpayers. Returning Surplus Dollars House Democrats recently voted down a Republican bill that would allow citizens to decide if a portion of future budget surpluses should be returned to taxpayers. The bill (HF 4) establishes the Minnesota Tax Relief Fund, ensuring that excess tax revenue is returned to the Minnesotans who paid income and property taxes. This is an effort to avoid repeating what happened in 2023 when one-party control spent the $18 billion surplus, increased state spending by 40 percent and raised taxes. When Minnesotans are overtaxed, the excess funds should be returned to taxpayers instead of being spent on government programs that will cost taxpayers more year after year. This bill safeguards taxpayers by stopping legislators from treating budget surpluses as free money to spend as they please. The benefits of a surplus serve taxpayers, not government bureaucrats. The bill proposes a constitutional amendment question on the 2026 general election ballot, asking voters to decide whether future budget surpluses should be automatically refunded. Any projected revenues that go over 5 percent of projected expenditures according to the last biennial budget forecast will be used to fund the account. Unfortunately, the bill was defeated in a party-line vote, 67-67. Senator Charged The federal charges facing Senator Eichorn after his recent arrest are shocking and appalling. He is facing a minimum of 10 years in federal prison if convicted with no ability to plea bargain downward. It is good he resigned from office as his conduct was unbecoming of a legislator and brought disrepute to the Senate. While he is entitled to the same due process as anyone else, legislators are obligated to maintain a high standard of conduct and, after reading the 12-page charging document, he certainly crossed that line. As a fierce advocate for victims of crime especially child victims, I am currently carrying a bill (HF 128) to increase penalties on engaging in, or attempting to engage in, prostitution with a minor. The bill had a hearing in a House Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee on February 12th and was laid over for possible inclusion in the Public Safety omnibus bill. Over the weekend, a DFL colleague reached out to discuss it and tighten up the language even more to make it more effective. I am happy to do this important work. Bipartisan Bill  In today’s era of intense partisanship, it’s easy to overlook the positive bipartisan work happening in the House. In the above photo, House Public Safety Committee Democrat Co-Chair Rep. Kelly Moller and I joined forces to make a committee presentation for a bill (HF 1082) establishing a special revenue account for funding crime victim services. Victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and other violence crimes can receive help through the Office of Justice Programs. Chair Moller and I are the bill's top two authors and I look forward to continued bipartisan effort on this bill. Co-presenting a bill with my Democrat colleagues is not new for me. Last biennium alone (yes, even though much of it was highly partisan), I co-presented three bills in four committee hearings with Democrat Representatives Her, Hollins and Keeler. |