Dear Friends and Neighbors,

 

I hope you are enjoying the beginning of our Minnesota summer, in the woods, and on the lakes or just your backyard with family, friends and neighbors.

This week, the Legislative Audit Commission, of which I am a member, held two hearings on two spectacular Walz Administration agency failures.  On Tuesday we heard about the COVID 2022 Frontline Worker Pay Program. The program was intended to provide checks to workers who met specific criteria during the COVID pandemic. 

 

The program initially set the expectation of more than $1,000 for health care workers, first responders and others who risked their own health to work during the pandemic. However, because there were so many applicants, including apparently many fraudulent ones, that check was only $487. 

 

The report highlights just how easy it was to file a claim and get paid with minimal verification and eligibility checks. Signs of fraud included submitting multiple claims with initials in alphabetical order, using essentially the same email with slight variations to trick the application system, multiple payments going to the same checking account, and claims submitted without basic income information.

 

 The OLA ran several projections based on individual applications and each time determined about 40% of payments were made to people not eligible to the program. 

 

Yesterday, Minnesota taxpayers got the release of a scathing audit of Minnesota’s Department of Education (MDE) and the Feeding our Future fraud scandal. 

 

$250 million was stolen from Minnesotans through his administration's negligence. Unfortunately, although the criminal cases are proceeding, there will be no accountability for the bureaucrats who let this fraud go on for over a year. MDE Commissioner Willie Jett and MDE General Counsel Maren Hulden wouldn’t say who was responsible and didn’t want to place any blame. Neither of them were at the agency when it happened and the former Commissioner Heather Mueller has since left the agency with glowing reviews to a consulting career.

 

The US attorney has indicted 70 people for stealing money meant for poor children who would have qualified for school lunches during the COVID shutdown.  Criminals faked records, invented imaginary sites and children in order to bill the state for the money, which was used to buy expensive suburban real estate, luxury cars and even a private plane. Eighteen people have pled guilty, three fled the country, one has since died and five were convicted of bribery, money laundering and wire fraud charges last week.  In addition, there is now an investigation of jury tampering with allegations that one of the defendants attempted to bribe a juror to acquit with a gift bag with $150,000 worth of cash.

 

Key Findings of The Feeding our Future Special Review: 

  

• MDE's Inadequate Oversight: MDE's lack of proper oversight allowed the exploitation of federally funded nutrition programs. Despite numerous warning signs and serious concerns raised over several years, MDE failed to take decisive actions to prevent or stop the fraud. 
• Failure to Act on Warning Signs: MDE ignored multiple red flags before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, including significant concerns about Feeding Our Future's ability to manage its operations and financials. 
• Deficient Application Review: MDE repeatedly approved Feeding Our Future's applications without verifying crucial information, despite identifying serious deficiencies in their operations. This negligence persisted even when the organization was found non-compliant in previous reviews.  
• Inadequate Complaint Investigations: MDE's handling of complaints was grossly insufficient. The department failed to investigate numerous complaints thoroughly and inappropriately tasked Feeding Our Future with investigating complaints against itself.  
• Lack of Follow-Up on Serious Deficiencies: Despite finding Feeding Our Future seriously deficient on two occasions, MDE did not ensure that corrective actions were implemented, allowing the organization to continue its fraudulent activities.  
• Pandemic-Related Oversight Failures: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated MDE's oversight issues. Federal waivers led to a relaxation of monitoring requirements, which MDE did not effectively adapt to, further enabling fraud.  

The Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs (MDVA) is hosting the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Vietnam War. The three-day event for Vietnam-era Veterans and their families, allies of the United States and all Minnesotans who wish to thank our Veterans, is being held June 13-15 at the Mall of America.

Over the three days, attendees can see historical displays from the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum and watch screenings of Vietnam War documentaries, view the American Veterans Traveling Tribute memorial wall and walk through a Resource Fair which will provide valuable resources and information for Minnesota Vietnam Veterans and their families. For more information visit MinnesotaVeteran.org/Vietnam50.

Nitrate (NO3) is a compound of nitrogen and oxygen naturally found in air, soil, water, and some food. Plants and animals require nitrates for their survival and growth, and the human body also produces this compound. Back in April, radical environmental groups petitioned the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, saying elevated nitrate in the groundwater in southeast Minnesota’s karst region posed an “imminent danger to human health.” They asked the EPA to use its emergency authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act to intervene. The EPA then went ahead and made unannounced nighttime visits, essentially raids, on a few farms in the area.  The raids were completely unnecessary and an administrative overreach since at least one of the farms in question were not directly regulated by the EPA but instead by the state and county.  The raids produced no actionable information but did cause concern among farmers that they were being unjustly targeted. 

 

And what about the “imminent danger?” It turns out that high nitrates in water are not an emergency but an issue that is and has been remediable.  Half a century ago, crop farming was not the precision industry it is now with more exact applications of fertilizer and satellite technology with weather information and light detection and ranging systems (LiDAR) to better understand water flow over soil. Communities and many private well owners use filtration and maintain their wells to prevent high nitrates from getting into drinking water.  The Department of Agriculture has a voluntary Township testing program for private wells, however, some private well owners may not be properly maintaining their wells and information on those are incomplete.  The legislature responded to these concerns by passing additional funding for MDH and Soil and Water Conservation districts to do outreach to private well owners to test and update their wells if necessary.  (Public Community wells are already regularly tested and publish their results).  

 

This month MDH and county Soil and Water Conservation Districts will be providing informational meetings to help people better understand the issue, identify if they have a problem and what to do about it.  

 

The upcoming in-person meetings are:

 

• Rushford — Wednesday, June 26 
  Open house from 4 to 8 p.m., presentation at 6:30 p.m.
  Rushford – Peterson Public School, 1000 Pine Meadows Lane, Rushford, MN 55971
  Free nitrate screening will be available starting at 4 p.m. Bring a sample of your private well drinking water from your kitchen tap in a clean glass jar to have it screened for nitrates. This service is provided by the Fillmore Soil and Water Conservation District. 

 

• Mazeppa — Thursday, June 27 
  Open house from 5 to 8 p.m., presentation at 6 p.m.
  Mazeppa Community Center, 278 First Ave. N., Mazeppa, MN 55956

 

Additionally, a virtual meeting will take place on Thursday, June 20, from noon to 1:30 p.m.

 

The MDH Press Release, including information about the virtual meeting, is here: https://www.health.state.mn.us/news/pressrel/2024/nitrate060724.html

 

June is Dairy Month and it's a great time to recognize our dairy farmers in district 20 who have recently been singled out as having low somatic cell counts in their product! If you don't know what this means, a lower SCC is better for cheese production and shelf life of bottled milk. Dairy farmers monitor SCC because it can be used as a way of measuring the health of their cows.  Since 2003, MDA and University of Minnesota dairy experts have worked with Minnesota dairy farmers to lower somatic cell counts. These farmers' herds are in the 90 top farms in the state with low SCCs.

Producer Name	County
Robert Hinsch	Goodhue
Edward and Mary Warmkagathje	Olmsted
North Creek Dairy LLC	Olmsted
Maynard & Jeremiah Schumacher	Wabasha
Matt & Tony Berktold	Wabasha
Bill Miller	Wabasha
Robert, Terri, & Mike Ketchum	Winona
Pine-Vue Farms	Winona
Roger Aldinger	Winona

I don't intend on sending you many emails in the interim months (yes, we still have a part time legislature in Minnesota!) but please do contact me to share any issues, concerns, or feedback you have to assist me in best representing you.  The best way to reach me is by email at [email protected] or by phone at 651-296-5612. My legislative assistant is Margaret Martin, and her number is 651-296-4264. She will be happy to assist you, in or out of session. 

Sincerely,

Steve Drazkowski

Minnesota Senate, District 20, Wabasha, Goodhue, Winona, Olmsted, and Dakota Counties.

2411 Minnesota Senate Building

95 University Avenue W.
Minnesota Senate Bldg.
St. Paul, MN 55155