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Bennett




Dear Friends,

 

Last week, the new budget forecast for the state was revealed. It shows a small budget surplus for the next biennium. After that, the news is extremely dire. We are headed toward a budget deficit, and it's a big one. In just two short years, Minnesota went from a record $18 billion budget surplus to what is now projected to be a record $6 billion budget deficit.

 

My Republican colleagues and I warned over and over during the last two years that the out-of-control spending increases and tax hikes passed by the Democrat trifecta would wreak havoc on our state budget. Sadly, that's what happened.

 

The DFL insists that we cannot repeal or postpone any of their expensive new mandates, even though our state is headed into a $6 billion deficit. They already imposed a $10 billion tax increase on Minnesotans last biennium. Are we going to ask taxpayers to ante up more to pay for their spending spree? That's irresponsible!

 

To watch my comments made in the Education Finance committee on this subject, click here. [ [link removed] ]

 

*HOUSE COMMITTEES HEAR BILL HELPING VETERANS’ ORGANIZATIONS *

A bill I’m carrying on behalf of service organizations is making good progress. The legislation, which will give veterans’ service groups such as American Legions and VFW’s property tax relief on buildings they own and operate, was approved in the House military and veterans services committee, and was presented in the House taxes committee this week.  

 

*LOCAL VISITORS*

On Wednesday in the Veterans and Military Committee, we heard a bill in support of a veterans’ fishing program called Fishing With Vets. Local Glenville veteran, Ron Knudson, was there to testify in support of the bill. He did a great job. It was very touching to hear how this program helped save his life during a very dark time in his life. As a token of my appreciation, I gave Ron one of our committee’s Challenge Coins.

 

Vet

 

Thank you for your service, Ron, and thank you for coming to the Capitol to testify in committee today!

 

*BILLS OF NOTE*

This week, the House began addressing the fraud problem in our state (check out my fraud column later in this update) by debating a bill that’s designed to curb it. 

 

The full body debated a proposal would establish “fraud notes,” providing legislators with an evaluation of potential fraud risks before enacting any new program or policy. It would also add additional accountability to agencies to ensure they are following through with recommendations made by the nonpartisan Legislative Auditor to address matters of waste, fraud, and abuse in their agencies. Sadly, no Democrat supported it, and it failed to pass by one vote.

 

A separate proposal adding protection for whistleblower state employees who come forward to expose government fraud and mismanagement was approved by a unanimous vote. I was pleased to see both sides agree to a plan that provides safeguards to those who are potentially putting their jobs on the line to protect taxpayer dollars. 

 

Two other common-sense proposals also failed to pass the House floor because not one of my DFL colleagues would support them. The first would appropriate $4 million in funding grants to women’s pregnancy centers and maternity homes. It would have given mothers the opportunity to choose what was best for them and their families. Supporting pregnant mothers and giving them options should be something we can all agree upon. I cannot understand why this bill did not pass unanimously.

 

The second, the “Born Alive Rollback,” would extend legal protections to infants who are born alive after an abortion procedure. This bill would require that doctors protect the lives of infants under these adverse circumstances in the same way that they protect infants born under normal conditions. How sad that we cannot even agree that if an infant is born alive after something like this, they deserve a chance at life.

 

Some interesting bills also were heard in House committees this week. The House transportation committee heard a bill that would end funding for the proposed Northern Lights Express high speed passenger rail project between Minneapolis and Duluth. Traveling on this “high speed” option actually takes longer than driving to Duluth! This is just plain wasteful spending. The proposal would send the $194 million already appropriated for the project to the Trunk Highway Fund.

 

The House labor committee approved two bills modifying earned sick and safe time. These bills add some exclusions to the program, and one specifically exempts farmers, family farms, and family farm corporations that employ no more than five employees from the requirements of earned sick and safe time.

 

The House judiciary committee approved a bill creating civil penalties for highway obstructors. You’ll recall interstates were blocked during the George Floyd riots, which prevented ambulances from getting to the hospital in a timely fashion. Dying patients should not be put at risk due to protestors desire to cause commotion by shutting down a major highway.

 

*MY COLUMN FOR THIS WEEK: ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER FRAUD*

It seems one can’t turn on the news these days without hearing about another fraud investigation or news report about fraudsters stealing tax dollars in Minnesota. This is getting embarrassing!

 

To date, more than $600 million has been documented as stolen from taxpayers due to fraudulent activity over the past six years. This just relates to the cases that have been uncovered and fleshed out. The actual total is most likely well over $1 billion.

 

This is real money, folks – and it’s a lot. This is not only an affront to the taxpayers of Minnesota who deserve to know that their tax dollars are not being stolen or wasted, but it’s also a travesty for the people and projects that really need these funds.

 

Think of what $600 million could do for our state…

 

It could build at least three more state-of-the-art veterans’ homes to serve our veterans throughout Minnesota and fully staff them for 25 years.

 

It could pay for the much-needed mill and overlay for Hwy 22 between Wells (through Kiester) and the Iowa border, along with 86 other state highways just like that one.

 

It could pay for ongoing individual tutoring over the next five years for every student who still needs remediation from learning loss during the COVID lockdowns, and also provide continuing professional development and training for educators so they can focus on the core academic areas of reading, writing, math, and science.

 

It could provide much needed property tax relief for Minnesotans who are struggling under high inflation. $600 million can do so much!

 

Since my first term in 2015, many legislators have been well aware of fraud problems. House Republicans have raised concerns and offered legislation for years. Sadly, my colleagues on the other side of the aisle have consistently acted as a roadblock toward investigation. They literally called our fraud claims “fairy dust” at one point.

 

From Feeding Our Future - $250 million lost, the largest fraud scam in our nation’s history - to Medicaid and frontline worker financial programs, irrefutable proof continues to pour forth.

 

One recent fraud report came from a KSTP-TV investigation. It discovered Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) providers that were never even operational, despite receiving millions in taxpayer dollars. A simple Google search by anyone could have discovered in seconds that those buildings could not house children. Thank you to the news organizations that are doing these investigations and simple legwork. My question is, why isn’t our government doing this work?

 

The latest fraud scandal centers on a large substance abuse nonprofit organization. A report in a recent Star Tribune article showed that state officials listed five potential fraud concerns in a letter to the organization last year: billing for services not provided; using illegal kickbacks; failing to return overpayments; submitting claims where it wasn’t entitled to reimbursement and failing to comply with legal requirements to document services.

 

Another day, another fraud. This is very sad for our state and highly concerning.

 

This session, House Republicans have implemented a new fraud committee and it's been doing amazing work. What members are uncovering is downright maddening. The committee’s first hearing focused on the oversight of taxpayer-funded grants to nonprofit organizations as was detailed in its 2023 Office of the Legislative Auditor’s (OLA) report Oversight of State-Funded Grants to Nonprofit Organizations [ [link removed] ]. Among many points, OLA investigators noted they found “pervasive noncompliance” with policies that are meant to stop fraud within state government. 

 

In addition, the committee learned the Walz Administration has NOT been stopping kickbacks discovered within the fraud-riddled CCAP where at least $150 million has been stolen. This has been a known problem since at least 2019 when the OLA released a report. Amazingly, remedies were recommended but never implemented by the administration.

 

This is ridiculous!

  

Sadly, fraud – theft of taxpayer money – has become par for the course in Minnesota. Outright dysfunction in government has enabled fraudsters to steal hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars. The constant excuses, lack of accountability, and deflecting blame has to stop. This should be a bipartisan issue that we can all agree is important, and must be addressed immediately.

 

I appreciate that the governor has finally acknowledged this issue and recently released his anti-fraud plan. However, it centers around allowing the administrative branch to police itself. That’s not going to cut it. My Republican colleagues and I have offered a plan to address this issue that creates an independent Inspector General outside of the executive branch and accountable to the legislature, as it should be.

 

Fraud is pervasive and rampant in this state. It is far from fairy dust. As the fraud cases continue to mount, it is my hope we are moving closer to approving legislation that finally ends this theft of precious taxpayer dollars. This has to stop, and it must stop now.

 

Have a good weekend,

 

Peggy

 






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