Friends and neighbors,
This week, U.S. Attorney Andy Luger announced 10 additional indictments against individuals engaged in fraud in the massive Feeding our Future scheme. Luger did not provide an additional dollar amount on the new indictments but indicated it was now more than $250 million from 60 individuals. He also indicated there could be more indictments in the future
This fraud was allowed to spread so widely because of weak oversight by the Walz Administration and officials. In fact, the Walz Administration didn’t report this fraud as required by law. It appears as though they handed out money without worrying about whether or not that money was even going to the right people. We must investigate the indicted individuals’ connections to other government programs for potential fraud schemes and require every agency to report their fraud prevention efforts to the legislature.
We need our agencies to be more transparent. Though accountability matters, the main goal should be prevention. Unfortunately, Gov. Walz has provided almost no serious plan to prevent this from ever happening again.
Tax relief must come before bonding
Senate Democrats this week also forced a vote on a large bonding bill, before presenting even a single plan for providing relief to Minnesotans. The bonding bill cannot pass without Republican votes, and we have been clear that the number one priority must be sending at least some of the state’s $19 billion surplus back to taxpayers. We communicated this to them many times, but they didn’t care.
If they were serious about getting this done, they would have worked with us in good faith. But they didn’t. Instead, they used dirty tricks, like contacting Republican cities behind our backs. Those kinds of tactics are unheard of, and seriously damage relationships we have worked so hard to build.
To make things worse, after the vote Democrats punished residents of Republican districts by deleting our bills from the agenda. There were local officials ready to testify on behalf of a bill that I was presenting who received an email that they were no longer needed. It was a waste of time, waste of energy, and insulting to Minnesotans. But I want to thank Superintendent Matt Grose for trying; I still hope we can get this done.
The reality is we can, and should, be able to get a bonding bill AND a tax bill done, and fast. But it will require Democrats to work with us in good faith. We’ll see.
Contact me
If you have any questions or comments about the issues we are working on, please contact me anytime. My email is sen.justin.eichorn@senate.mn, or you can call me at 651-296-7079.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook: https://www.fb.com/SenatorJustinEichorn.
It is a privilege to serve you!