Friends and neighbors,
Last week, several county commissioners from across Minnesota joined Senate Republicans for a press conference to sound the alarm over Governor Walz’s budget proposal.
To no one’s surprise, he is presenting his budget proposal as “savings” for the state while we’re facing a $5 billion budget shortfall, but what it really does is just shift $460 million in costs onto counties that are already saddled with expensive new state mandates and higher inflation – just like Minnesota families.
I’ll be focused on finding solutions to balance our budget that don’t shift the cost onto our local governments or blame our most vulnerable Minnesotans who rely on important services. After Minnesotans have seen more than $500 million in fraud, it’s time to put Minnesotans First and clearly there is much more we can do to find savings in the state budget.
Cracking down on fraud
Minnesotans have seen almost $500 million defrauded from the taxpayers. The waste, fraud, and abuse that has been enabled during the Walz Administration is a disgrace to the hard-working Minnesotans who expect the state to keep a close eye on their tax dollars.
Senate Republicans recently held a press conference to lay out our plan to enact strict oversight, transparency, and accountability in government to prevent this from happening again.
Our plan includes bills to address:
- Empowering the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor
- Creating a state Office of Inspector General
- Establishing a state grants administrator & a central grant system
- Increased oversight of grant recipients
- Additional accountability, training requirements, and whistleblower protections for state employees
IRRRB Meeting
Next week the IRRR Board will be meeting in Saint Paul. Part of that meeting will be focused on reorganizing the board which happens every two years. I’m looking forward to continuing to serve our region and finding ways to strengthen our economy and communities!
Stay up to date here.
Sincerely,
Minnesota Senate, District 6