Yesterday, a local news reporter shared images of a new hiring policy being instituted at the Department of Human Services. The policy letter states, “Hiring supervisors must provide a hiring justification when seeking to hire a non-underrepresented candidate when hiring for a vacancy in a job category with underrepresentation.” The letter also says the justification must be approved by DHS Equal Opportunity and Access Division before the employment offer is made. Hiring managers face disciplinary action, including potential termination, if they fail to comply with the new policy.
“This hiring policy is DEI on steroids, and people are over it. We all work hard to provide for our family, pay our bills, and leave a legacy for the next generation,” Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) said. “No one should face discrimination or extra hurdles to obtain a job because of their skin color, gender, orientation. Government must hire the best candidate based on character, experience, and merits, period. Governor Walz needs to immediately end this blatantly illegal and highly discriminatory policy before the state loses a lawsuit over his misguided progressive pipedreams.”
Notably, this policy comes on the heels of reports the Minnesota Department of Education terminated an employee and mandated background checks be completed for new employees only after Alpha News reported on an employee’s past conviction made him a registered sex offender.
The latest state budget raised taxes by $4 billion, increased state agency operation budgets by $770 million, and cut funding for special needs students and people with disabilities. Today, the Star Tribune reports Gov. Walz is billing taxpayers $430,000 for legal fees tied to his congressional testimony.
“We have to wonder if government is truly working for every Minnesotan,” Johnson continued. “Discriminatory hiring from DHS, careless vetting at MDE, and reckless spending on legal fees should cause us all to wonder if Democrats have grown the bureaucracy too big and too fast to maintain the integrity Minnesotans expect.”