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Sexton









Legislative Update

Greetings,

We are off and running in 2026. I hope you enjoyed the last several weeks of holidays, taking time to rest and spend time with loved ones.

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Fatal Shooting in Minneapolis on January 7th

I'm sure you have heard about the fatal shooting incident in Minneapolis yesterday. My thoughts and prayers are with the family members of Renee Nicole Macklin Good and with law enforcement officers across the country, including those in Minneapolis now and those who were involved in the incident.

There is no denying that the resulting rhetoric has been weaponized against individuals and agencies on both sides of the situation. In the face of a tragedy like this one, it is a great reminder that our law enforcement officers have a job to do and don't deserve the hate that is spewed at them for doing so. It is also a reminder of our freedoms we have here in the U.S., such as the rights to free speech and peacefully protest. We will continue to keep an eye on the situation as the investigation unfolds.

In addition, we must work towards defusing the situation now and in the future.

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Fraud in Minnesota: Department of Human Services (DHS), Behavioral Health Administration Audit by the Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA).

I know you are likely as tired of hearing about this topic as I am, but we must all stay informed and demand better results in the future. However, we all need to know that our tax dollars are being applied correctly, with proper controls, and transparently. I do not take this task lightly as our State of Minnesota biannual budget grew by a whopping 40% over the 2023-2024 biennium. This budget growth set the baseline 40% higher compared to the pre-2023-2024 budgets.

Now, we find some very disturbing news in the Department of Human Services, Behavioral Health OLA Audit [ [link removed] ] which was published on January 6th, 2026. 

Cover Letter: “We received the full cooperation of staff from DHS and BHA while performing this audit. However, during the course of our audit, we identified a number of documents that BHA either backdated or created after our audit began.”

Summary of Audit Findings (13 items):

1. The Behavioral Health Administration used single source grants when they were not justified and did not always sufficiently document its reasons for using single source grants. New Finding.

2. In its grant agreements, the Behavioral Health Administration did not always cite its statutory authority to administer grants or its authority for specific grant programs. New Finding.

3. The Behavioral Health Administration did not always execute grant agreement amendments before the original grant agreements expired. New Finding.

4. The Behavioral Health Administration paid some grantees for work performed before it fully executed the grant agreements. New Finding.

5. The Behavioral Health Administration overpaid two grantees. New Finding.

6. The Behavioral Health Administration did not use a competitive bid process to award mental health provider supervision grant funding. New Finding.

7. The Behavioral Health Administration did not obtain all required progress reports and issued payments to grantees with past-due reports. Some progress reports did not contain all relevant information. Prior Audit Finding Not Resolved.

8. The Behavioral Health Administration could not demonstrate that it performed some required monitoring visits and did not consistently document some monitoring visits it performed. Prior Audit Finding Not Resolved.

9. The Behavioral Health Administration could not demonstrate that it completed financial reconciliations in compliance with Office of Grants Management policy. Prior Audit Finding Not Resolved.

10. The Behavioral Health Administration made payments to grantees for costs that were either not incurred or not properly supported by source documents. New Finding.

11. The Behavioral Health Administration did not complete evaluations of grantee performance, as required by Office of Grants Management policy. Prior Audit Finding Not Resolved.

12. The Legislature did not establish a mechanism for oversight of payments made to certain legislatively named entities. As a result, payments made to these entities were not subject to oversight from the Behavioral Health Administration. New Finding.

13. Some Behavioral Health Administration staff described poor leadership practices within the administration, and many staff indicated that they did not receive sufficient training to perform grant management tasks. New Finding.

Now what…you may ask!

Minnesota Statutes 2025, 16A.057 Requires the Commissioner of Minnesota Management and Budget to review the OLA audit reports and help agencies correct internal control problems noted in these reports.

As legislators, we will continue to support the Office of Legislative Auditor as they continue to review State of Minnesota offices and programs. We sincerely appreciate their objectivity and tenacity on behalf of all Minnesotans.

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Coffee with Tom

Please feel free to join me for Coffee with Tom in Waseca will be on Friday, January 9th at the Waseca Chamber of Commerce from 12:00pm-1:00pm.

Our next Coffee with Tom meeting in Owatonna will be Friday, February 6th at the Owatonna Chamber of Commerce building from 12:00pm-1:00pm.

Thank you for your support and feedback!

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I want to hear you

I am always here to listens to concerns or ideas of my constituents. I can be reached via email [email protected] or phone 651-296-5368. 

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2828 Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, MN 55155 [email protected]
651.296.5368







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