Minnesota House GOP makes case for divided government by citing state’s ‘systemic fraud’

House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring, spoke at a Capitol press conference about fraud in state government on July 8, 2024. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.

Minnesota House Republicans on Monday said that the state’s Democratic trifecta has failed to take responsibility for burgeoning fraud occurring in programs overseen by state agencies, and they argued that electing more GOP lawmakers in November will mitigate future fraud.

In recent years, numerous investigations by the state’s nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor have uncovered repeated failures by state agencies to investigate fraud allegations and adequately oversee the money it sends out the door, among other issues. During a Capitol press conference, House Republicans said the common thread is the leadership of Democratic-Farmer-Labor Gov. Tim Walz, who appoints the heads of state agencies.

“We need to hold the Democratic-controlled state agencies accountable, and that actually starts with balanced government,” said House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth, R-Cold Spring. “Concerns that are brought up need to be taken seriously. We know that this is about protecting the resources that are meant for the most vulnerable in our state. We need to ensure that taxpayer dollars are used in the way that they’re intended.”

All 134 House seats are on the ballot in November, and Democrats have a four-seat majority that Republicans are trying to win back.

Demuth on Monday said the Minnesotans she’s spoken to on the campaign trail are largely unaware of the extent of fraud in Minnesota but are frustrated when they learn more about it.

“What Minnesotans are concerned about is the Walz/Biden economy and trying to afford their lives. So when we know dollars – good, hard-earned dollars — are going out to fraudsters… they’re very, very frustrated with it,” Demuth said.

The most egregious case of improper oversight, Demuth said, was the Department of Education’s failure to properly oversee millions of federal dollars it administered through nonprofits to feed children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Federal prosecutors so far have charged 70 people in what’s been dubbed the Feeding Our Future case — named for a nonprofit at the center of the scheme — for allegedly stealing around $250 million from the nutrition program.

An audit released last month found MDE failed to act on red flags and didn’t exercise its authority to ensure Feeding Our Future followed the nutrition program’s requirements. A jury found five defendants guilty and two not guilty last month in the first trial in the case.

A Walz spokesperson in a statement defended the state agencies.

“Feeding our Future was an appalling abuse of a program intended to feed kids. But those involved have not escaped accountability – dozens have been charged, and several are now behind bars,” the spokesperson said. “The state has taken strong steps to find and eliminate vulnerabilities in government programs and we are constantly evaluating ways to improve.”

In June, the OLA also released a report that found waste and fraud in Minnesota’s frontline worker pay program. Just 60% of the more than 1 million people who received $487 for working frontline jobs during the pandemic in Minnesota clearly deserved the bonuses, according to the audit . The OLA faulted state agencies but also said the Legislature was to blame for how it wrote the law.

The OLA has uncovered noncompliance and lack of internal controls in other state agencies regarding their oversight of programs, including COVID-19 grants administered by the Department of Health and housing and homelessness grants by the Department of Human Services.

House Republicans said Democrats should hold state agencies accountable for the fraud — by disciplining or firing state workers involved in poor oversight — to ensure abuse doesn’t continue. Demuth said the agencies should implement the various recommendations made by the OLA to improve oversight and hold public hearings with the agency commissioners when fraud does occur.

“We have a pattern of systemic fraud in the state of Minnesota, and people have got to be aware of that,” Demuth said.

The post Minnesota House GOP makes case for divided government by citing state’s ‘systemic fraud’ appeared first on Minnesota Reformer .