Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the House, where this week we took initial steps toward clamping down on widespread fraud in Minnesota’s state programs. Here’s a closer look at that and more:
 Anti-fraud package I have signed on as an author of two bills in a series of House Republican proposals to curb fraud, waste, and abuse in state programs. Taxpayers deserve accountability and responsibility from their elected officials instead of state leaders looking the other way, offering excuses, and not holding program administrators accountable. I am working to crack down on fraud that has been allowed to run rampant in our state and ensure the tax dollars the state collects from hardworking Minnesotans reaches their intended purposes. That’s the least we can do for taxpayers. The first three bills House Republicans drafted in response to this issue this session include: - House File 1: Establishes a centralized Office of the Inspector General to lead the fight against fraud across state programs. The bill consolidates agency-based inspector general offices into a unified entity, requires agencies to halt payments when fraud is suspected, and mandates the creation of a fraud reporting hotline. Additionally, it provides funding to ensure the new OIG has the resources to be effective.
- House File 2 (which I co-authored): Strengthens fraud prevention by mandating stricter reporting requirements for state agencies and equipping them with additional tools to identify and prevent fraudulent activities. This bill emphasizes transparency and swift action to address fraud concerns.
- House File 3 (which I co-authored): Establishes “fraud notes,” a groundbreaking tool to assess the susceptibility of proposed legislation to fraud. Similar to fiscal notes, fraud notes would provide lawmakers with an evaluation of potential fraud risks before enacting new programs or policies.
- Each of the three bills are expected to receive their first House Committee hearings in the coming weeks.
March for Life |
Thank you to everyone who came to the Capitol this week to participate in the March for Life event. It was great to see such a large turnout for this wonderful cause!
 Affordable Minnesota House Republicans have authored legislation this session to help make Minnesota more affordable for families and businesses. We are working to offset the historic inflation, irresponsible spending and unnecessary tax increases we have suffered in Minnesota. For starters, we are working on repealing the things that hurt our family and business budgets, such as the automatic gas tax increase, delivery taxes, social security taxes, and policies that are driving up the cost of energy. Bills we have introduced so far include: - House File 4: Proposes a constitutional amendment to make sure that substantial, future budget surpluses are returned to the taxpaying citizens of Minnesota.
- House File 5: Repeals many of the taxes that Democrats passed in 2023 including the automatic gas tax increase, the delivery tax and fully exempts social security from state income taxes. It also looks at options to reduce vehicle tab fees.
- House File 9: Rolls back some of the onerous mandates Democrats approved with full control of the Capitol, lifts Minnesota’s nuclear power moratorium, and expands the tax exemption on natural gas and electric derived residential heat to help save Minnesota families money.
Watch for more on these and other top priorities for House Republicans this session. We’re hard at work at the Capitol, so please stay in touch and let me know how I can help. Sincerely, Scott |