Today the Minnesota Senate passed a bill that takes $100 million from the Minnesota Forward Fund, a fund intended to attract new businesses to Minnesota to create grants for businesses that claim they were harmed by protests and boycotts promoted by Democrats.

“Businesses are getting crushed by policies passed by Democrats, and we are losing ground on national rankings because of it,” Senate Republican Leader Mark Johnson (East Grand Forks) said. “This bill takes funds meant to attract and develop Minnesota businesses in favor of sending money to businesses harmed by organized protests and boycotts supported by Democrats. If local Democrats had just coordinated with immigration officials this could have all been avoided.”

Fraud concerns raised by Republicans led to some safeguards being added to the bill, including language that says up the 5% of the funding can be used to fight fraud. However, attempts to require more eligibility verification beyond self-attestation, ensure the business is in good standing with the state, and banning funds from going to people here illegally were rejected by Democrats.

A similar fund passed after the 2020 riots are the subject of full program review by the Office of the Legislative Auditor’s after local reporting revealed a troubling lack of verification and potential misuse of the funds.