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Jacob




Hello from the State Capitol,

 

Just when you think the fraud problem in Minnesota couldn’t get worse, the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) tells us that state employees within the Walz administration are actively and knowingly covering it up.

 

This is not some MAGA conspiracy theory. This nonpartisan office, tasked with auditing certain divisions within state government, conducted an audit of the Behavioral Health Administration within the Department of Human Services. It analyzed its annual issuance of roughly $200 million in grant funds to mental health and drug and alcohol addiction providers.

 

What it found was that state employees not only mismanaged this money but also participated in a cover up by fabricating documents to cover their tracks. And it didn’t happen just once. Auditor Judy Randall tells us the agency’s actions were a “systemic” problem. During their audit, multiple DHS employees created new documents or backdated others in hopes of throwing up a smokescreen and evading further scrutiny of their illegal actions.

 

It didn’t work.

 

The auditor presented her findings recently to Minnesota’s Legislative Audit Commission, a bipartisan, bicameral committee on which I sit. All of us were appalled when the auditor said: "Frankly, in the 27-plus years I've been with the OLA, I've never seen this before. I will say we've had suspicions periodically, but we've never been able to prove it, to document it, and we did in this case. And it's very troubling.”

 

It found numerous instances of BHA giving grants to organizations without having a bidding process and refusing to provide justification for why those organizations were chosen. In one instance, a company received $672,000 for a month’s work but couldn’t provide data that outlined exactly how that money was spent. The BHA grant manager who approved that payment then quit her job a few days later and was employed as a consultant for the company which received the grant. In other words, she cut a massive check to the company, and a few days later that company had money to hire her.

 

You pad my wallet, and I’ll pad yours.

 

During the hearing, the auditor made the following comments about the Behavioral Health Administration and its employees:

 


* Intentionally misleading the Auditor
* Falsification of records
* Backdating records
* Non-compliance
* Inappropriately accepting grant applications

 

In my opinion, she should have added the words “intentional” and “criminal.”

 

This isn’t one person who went rogue. The Auditor now has documented proof that multiple employees within the Department of Human Services willfully ignored procedures designed to provide qualifying organizations with fair access to state grant funds and did everything they could hide their actions.

 

Further, let’s end this charade that Governor Walz is working round-the-clock to stop fraud. The Auditor shared this quote from a staff member of BHA: “Executive leadership has repetitively shown staff that they won’t take the staff’s concerns or questions seriously until something serious happens or it makes the news.”

 

Well, it’s making the news nightly now, and Governor Walz is ending his re-election efforts because of it. But make no mistake, this fraud problem goes far beyond him. We have lost at least $9 billion – or roughly $3,840 per Minnesota household – thanks to 20 years of failed leadership from Democrat governors and their allies in the Legislature. They purposely ignored the problem because it would make Democrats look bad, refused to administer oversight because it might cast a black eye on the “communities” that vote for them en masse, and created a culture that not only allowed fraud to fester but basically encouraged it.  

 

For years, legislative Democrats have claimed fraud in Minnesota does not exist. “Fairy dust” is what one called it. Not only is fraud running rampant in this state, but we now have proof that employees within the Walz administration actively participated in it. This rot has been spreading across numerous state agencies for decades, and its putrid stench can no longer be ignored. Change is necessary, and if Minnesotans don’t demand it, you can guarantee more of the same.

 

Have a good weekend,

 

Steve









2481 Centennial Office Bldg.
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55155
651-296-2273
[email protected]







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