Friends and neighbors,
Fraud has been allowed to run rampant in Minnesota for years. One of the biggest drivers of this issue is that we have state agencies administering funds without any meaningful oversight to protect the tax dollars being sent out the door. In this newsletter, I’ll go over the fraud, waste, and abuse that has been discovered and what I and the Republican Party of Minnesota are working on to ensure our residents are safe from mismanaged policies and procedures in the future.
Fraud, Waste, and Abuse
I recently had the opportunity to speak to Department of Children, Youth, and Families (DCYF) Commissioner Brown after yet another story broke about potential fraud within the Childcare Assistance Program (CCAP). The recent investigative piece highlighted the urgent need for fraud prevention strategies, including site visits to businesses receiving state dollars. If an investigative reporter couldn’t find reasonable evidence of services being delivered after conducting an unannounced site visit, it begs the question: why aren’t our agencies providing similar oversight measures?
These programs (like CCAP, Feeding our Future, Medicaid, etc.) are designed to help vulnerable families, yet they are often fraught with fraud. We’ve seen some examples where organized schemes are put together to exploit the cracks in the guardrails that are meant to protect taxpayer dollars.
However, it should never have gotten to this point with nearly $1 billion lost to waste, fraud, and abuse in Minnesota. So, how do we combat this?
A dedicated Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the state level is one step toward much stronger fraud prevention. An OIG could provide proactive oversight. Instead of relying on reactionary investigations, the office would be given authority to audit programs and look into reports of potential fraud.
I have a bill, SF 1219, to create an independent OIG which will be part of a large, comprehensive proposal from Senate Republicans to address fraud in Minnesota. We recently unveiled our full proposal to hold government accountable to stop waste, fraud, and abuse including bills to:
- Empower the nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor
- Create a state Office of Inspector General
- Establish a state grants administrator & a central grant system
- Increase oversight of grant recipients
- Bolster accountability, training requirements, and whistleblower protections for state employees
You can watch the Republican press conference here where all GOP Senators gave an overview of what we’re doing as a caucus to remedy the enormous amount of mismanagement by the Executive Branch.
Implementing a robust, independent oversight body is a much-needed investment to ensure accountability, protection for those who report potential fraud, and overall improvements in government efficiency. After years of mismanagement and reckless disregard for being good stewards of taxpayer money, we have an opportunity to take meaningful action to prevent this.
Thank you to everyone across the state that has reached out to me to share your support for this difficult work we have ahead. Change is rarely fast in government, but I’m ready to do the work necessary to help residents of this great state.
Contact Me
I truly appreciate hearing from you! If you ever have a question or concerns, feel free to contact me at sen.mark.koran@mnsenate.gov or at 651-296-5419. My legislative assistant, Melissa Field, is also a great resource for information. She can be reached at melissa.field@mnsenate.gov or at 651-296-6200. I’m looking forward to seeing you in the community soon!
Sincerely,
Minnesota Senate, District 28