Today Senate Republicans rolled out several new bills to continue the fight against fraud that has plagued the state’s support programs. The bills aim to improve accountability within state government, support the use of technology to streamline delivery and verification of services, and give the legislature rigorous oversight of taxpayer’s dollars and the administration of these programs.  

“Minnesotans have been demanding for us to address fraud, and Senate Republicans have put together a slate of bills that are a direct response to their validated concerns,” said Senator Jeff Howe (R-Rockville). “Democrats and the Walz Administration have passed a number of funding bills that wrote blank checks to agencies and programs without following the policies designed to prevent system abuse and fraud. Federal attorneys estimate our state to have $9 billion in fraud, but given the lack of transparency and oversight, we expect that number to increase. Today, we’re presenting a viable plan to stop fraud before it begins.”

Senate Republicans are introducing a slate of proposed legislation to accomplish 3 key goals: implementing stricter legislative oversight, supporting technology to streamline verification and delivery of services, and improving overall accountability in state government. 

Bills in the package include the following:

• Requiring that commissioners once again be confirmed within 60 days of being appointed

• Requiring audits to be conducted by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) of any program that experiences a 5% increase over projected spending, and if services exceed projections by 10% or more, those programs would require additional review and involvement by the legislature
• Increasing electronic verification when a provider visits a client, ensuring that clients are receiving the services they are billed for

• Adding strict verification of eligibility by requiring managed care organizations to confirm client eligibility before full reimbursement, and would withhold 5% of payments to the MCO until all eligibility checks are complete
• Addressing state employees who have falsified paperwork during an audit by making these actions a crime
• Adding a requirement to reinstate Department of Human Services Office of Inspector General reports detailing fraud efforts, including cases under investigation, and fund recovered
• Mandating unannounced in-person visits to every business receiving taxpayer funding through the Department of Human Services or the Department of Children, Youth, and Families

Aside from the plan, Howe has also authored and co-authored  the following related bills:

• SF-888 would empower and support state employees that report fraud
• SF-1219 would take the bold step of creating an Office of the Inspector General and would require a fraud hotline, among a number of additional oversight and transparency initiatives to stop fraud before it begins

“If nothing else gets done this year, we must address the fraud. This is hard-earned taxpayer money going out the door to people getting rich off the backs of our most vulnerable citizens and the services they rely on – it’s wrong and it’s time we get this situation under control,” finished Howe.