Dear Neighbors,
February has begun and that means the legislative session is here. This year, the focus will be a bonding bill. For those who may not know, each biennium contains a budget year and a bonding year – last year was the former, this year the latter. The bonding bill will be what’s on most people’s mind. Given the fraud we’ve seen throughout multiple agencies, it will be crucial that every project is vetted. For a bonding bill to pass, it will need to be limited to true, needed infrastructure projects. Democrats’ last “big” bonding bill was in 2023 and it was full of pet projects. Last year, we passed a smaller, scaled down bill focusing specifically on roads, bridges, clean water, and infrastructure. I’m hopeful that trend continues this year. The needs are high in greater Minnesota.
Aside from bonding, there are a few things I will be focused on: addressing the waste and fraud, getting our spending under control, and making communities safer.
The first two of my priorities go together: getting the spending under control means tackling the waste and fraud. Right now, Minnesota is estimated to have about $9 billion in fraud. I think there will be more. That’s not surprising, given what we’ve seen from Democrat leadership in recent years. And they seem uninterested in addressing it. In fact, the Human Services Committee just held a hearing and the commissioner said, "I don't think Minnesota has a problem any different than any other state.” Very telling.
This news is troubling when you consider we’re also heading towards a deficit totaling $5.4 billion if nothing changes. Imagine how much better our state’s finances would be if we weren’t funding fraudulent programs, or if we had oversight measures in place to avoid that waste. These are taxpayer dollars lining the pockets of fraudsters. Every single Minnesotan should be furious that this is happening while commissioners continue to claim we don’t have a “fraud problem.” We need to get serious. That means better oversight of every agency – independent overviews, legislative confirmation of commissioners, audit triggers, transparency on spending, and whistleblower protections to name a few. We also should ensure that anyone tied to the fraudulent programs we know about should be prohibited from participating in any other state program. If we get fraud under control, we can protect taxpayer dollars, address our budget woes, and prosecute fraudsters.
We also need to make our state safer. Minnesota families don’t feel safe in their homes or communities right now. A lot of that is due to legislation passed by Democrats that gives lighter sentences and allows violent felons to be released early from prison. We need to repeal these bad policies before it’s too late. But we also need to restore faith in our judicial system. Many have seen news stories about judges throwing out cases or using their role to make a political point. We need increased accountability and transparency for judicial sentencing, and we should require more information to be released when judges depart from sentencing guidelines or when they choose to overturn a jury verdict. In our current political environment, we also need to support law enforcement in general. That means supporting recruitment and retention and giving them the tools to succeed and keep us all safe.
On the note of safety, I would be remiss not to mention the violent protests happening in our state, most of which are taking place in the cities. But greater Minnesota has taken notice. Many have also noticed that as long as these protests have been in the news, fraud has not. I find this concerning because immigration reform is a critical part of keeping our communities safe, and fraud has taken a deep root in our state. Do not let one distract from the other. I find it concerning these protests are undermining other issues we’re having, and are also making many individuals feel less safe. It’s a recipe for disaster.
It’s a tall order, but these are things that need to get done sooner rather than later. Despite it being a bonding year, I look forward to having discussions around these topics. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback on legislation, please contact my office at [email protected].
