I was at the capitol this week to participate in a joint hearing of the Senate’s Health and Human Services committees investigating the ongoing turmoil occurring in the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Unfortunately, during that hearing, DHS failed to provide details Minnesotans deserve during these concerning times at the state’s biggest agency. DHS officials gave no clear explanation provided for why several of the agency’s top officials recently resigned or how they made $25 million in overpayments to Minnesota tribes for Medicaid services. Furthermore, the agency did not provide an update on the investigation into DHS Inspector General Carolyn Ham and her role in allowing widespread childcare fraud to take place nor any new information on the depth of child care fraud in general.

The continued turmoil and lack of information from the Walz administration and DHS regarding these issues should concern all Minnesotans. Transparency should be a staple of all functioning governments and Minnesotans have been waiting for months to hear how these issues occurred and what is being done to solve them. Unfortunately, the public continues to be shut out, and DHS officials have not shown the slightest interest in letting us in.

Minnesota taxpayers deserve better, they deserve a government that will tell them the truth and one that aggressively investigates to get to the bottom of fraud and abuse. It should be as non-partisan of an issue as there is. Unfortunately, this administration is not going that route so the Senate will continue to pursue reform and investigate to shine a light on this ongoing waste, fraud, and abuse of Minnesota taxpayer dollars.

As details emerge, I will continue to provide you updates on what is being done, and additional steps we plan to take during the 2020 session. In the meantime, if you missed the hearing and would like to learn more, I encourage you to watch the video here.