Minnesota lawmakers take aim at fraud with series of bills
One week after the start of the session, lawmakers have already pitched multiple ways to tackle statewide fraud.
While the Minnesota Legislature is currently working under a tied Senate and a lawsuit and boycotts in the House, fraud has emerged as a top priority for Republicans this session and appears to have bipartisan support early on.
House Republicans have introduced three bills to tackle fraud. The first establishes an Office of Inspector General, the second creates tougher penalties and streamline fraud reporting, and the third requires the legislative auditor to submit more regular reports to the Legislature on state agencies.
Two of these bills have companions in the Senate. One Senate bill also requires the legislative auditor to submit more regular reports. And, Sen. Heather Gustafson, DFL-Vadnais Heights, also plans to push a bill to create an Office of Inspector General.
Ahead of the session, Gov. Tim Walz unveiled his own package for tackling fraud. His plan called for using AI to better detect fraud, implementing tougher penalties for fraudsters, creating a centralized state fraud investigations unit and beefing up the Attorney General’s Medicaid Fraud unit.
The Feeding Our Future scheme in resulted in $250 million in stolen funds and more have been lost through Medicaid-related fraud.
At a press conference on Tuesday Rep. Kristin Robins, R-Maple Grove, who will chair the House’s new fraud committee, said her colleagues have been introducing this legislation for years and rarely got hearings in committees.
Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, said that despite this frustration of efforts from Democrats being “late,” Republicans welcome bipartisan work on the issue.
“I welcome the fact that the governor has acknowledged this, but as legislators, we have to take our own due diligence and our own steps to do this, and this is a great way to do so,” Nash said.
The Legislature will likely operate with a tighter budget this session. The House bill requiring reports to the Legislature from the legislative auditor, has an estimated cost of $240,000, Walz’s package estimates costs up to $39 million in fiscal year 2026 to 2027, but no other bills have estimated costs.
“I’ve been assured by the state gov chair that we’ll be saving Minnesotans enough money that they’ll want to spend money in this area again,” Rep. Ben Davis, R-Merrifield, said at Tuesday’s press conference.
The legalities of whether the House can introduce bills is still unclear. The House is currently in debate over whether 67 Republicans constitute a “quorum” to conduct House business, something the Minnesota Supreme Court will weigh in on after a hearing scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 23.
What's Your Reaction?
