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Peter Fischer Banner




*Dear Neighbors,*

My heart breaks that I have to write to you all following another tragedy. The murder of Renee Good at the hands of an ICE officer is deeply infuriating. She was a mother who was stepping up to protect her community and was punished for attempting to flee when she felt threatened. There is no question that she should still be with us today.

After they committed this crime, ICE attacked Minnesotans on school property [ [link removed] ], causing Minneapolis schools to close because it literally isn’t safe for children to go to school. I have heard of kindergartners crying because the president called them garbage, church attendance has dropped by 80% in some congregations, and people are afraid to leave their houses to shop for groceries. I never thought that such terror would come from our own elected leaders. It is very difficult to make sense of any of this. But I do know that it is intolerable. You can get involved, and you can be part of the solution. Here is a toolkit [ [link removed] ] with information relating to knowing civil rights, legal assistance, emergency contacts, advocacy and community support, and numerous other resources.

Whatever action you decide to take, please stay safe, please do not resort to anger and violence, and please care for your neighbors and loved ones.

Fraud in Minnesota

The Office of the Legislative Auditor released a report [ [link removed] ] detailing poor oversight within the Department of Human Services. I will get into more detail on this topic in the coming weeks. But, suffice to say, these failures are infuriating. I believe deeply in the programs that DHS delivers and know that they serve to greatly improve the lives of Minnesotans across the state. Failure to manage these dollars is a great disservice and worse, can lead to slash and burn cuts – like those we’re already seeing from the Trump administration – that threaten these services entirely which would cause even more harm to Minnesotans. We should follow the OLA recommendations and create new infrastructure within each department that is devoted to rooting out fraud and ensuring compliance with our laws.

It is important for folks to know that while the state makes the payments for Medicaid services, the programs are actually administered by the 87 different counties in the state. The counties have case managers or contract with outside organizations to provide case management services for enrolling people, setting up service authorizations, placing people in service provider settings, approving rates and then authorizing the payments that the state is to make. 

There needs to be more accountability built into that system and it is something that I have been working on since March. This is a long term process which also raises the question of whether we should continue to have the state pay for services and the counties administer the program. I have been receiving a lot of input from folks on this issue - thank you to several from our district that have provided me with a large amount of information. This is an issue I will continue to work on.

*Keep in touch*

Please continue to reach out with any input, ideas, or feedback about the issues important to you. I value hearing from you, so call (651) 296-5363 or email any time at [email protected]. You can find my information on my House website [ [link removed] ].

Sincerely,

Peter Fischer






State Representative Peter Fischer

5th Floor, Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar St.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

Phone: 651-296-5363
Email: [email protected]" (replies to this newsletter are not monitored)"
Website: www.house.mn.gov/44A







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