Legislative Update from Rep. Kristin Robbins

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February 14, 2025

Executive Summary

• Fighting Fraud & Strengthening Oversight

• Holding the Line on Fiscal Responsibility

• Protecting Whistleblowers & Limiting Executive Overreach

• Moratorium on Light Rail Funding

• Photos

• Staying Engaged

Fighting Fraud & Strengthening Oversight

This week, the House Fraud Oversight Committee held our first hearing to investigate how state agencies manage taxpayer dollars. We took testimony from Legislative Auditor Judy Randall and Deputy Auditor Jodi Munson Rodriguez, who outlined serious failures in management of state-funded grants to nonprofits.

As I noted in my opening remarks, Minnesota has seen an estimated $610 million in fraud and waste, and it is clear that agencies are not doing enough to prevent it. The Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) report highlighted several key concerns:

• Lack of oversight training – Agencies often fail to require grant managers to take training available in grant administration. The Office of Grants Management provides some training modules but apparently does not provide training in fraud prevention or close-out evaluations. These gaps in financial oversight training lead to a culture of management that is not rigorous and doesn’t enforce existing grant management practices.
• Weak grant management statutes– The Office of Grants Management has the statutory authority to stop payment on grants when fraud is detected but is not required to do so – we need to change the “may stop payment” to “must stop payment” in state law.
• Our bipartisan committee will continue to hold hearings to uncover problems in agencies’ practice and state law that we need to address to ensure that taxpayer dollars go to the needy, not the greedy. I will continue to push for stronger safeguards, clearer oversight requirements, and real accountability for agencies that fail to protect public funds.

Holding the Line on Fiscal Responsibility

With the legislative session now fully underway, budget discussions are ramping up, and Democrats are already trying to shift blame for Minnesota’s looming $5.1 billion deficit. The new talking point from the Democrats in every committee is to try to blame Congressional Republicans and President Trump for our budget woes, even though most of the federal policies have not taken effect yet – and had not even been considered when a $5.1 billion was announced in the forecast last November.

Let’s be clear: this deficit is entirely caused by the Democrats’ rampant spending when they had full control of state government. In the last session, the Democrats spent the entire $18 billion surplus, raised taxes by $11 billion, and increased the state budget by 40%. This reckless spending is completely unsustainable and put our state on a trajectory for significant budget shortfalls long before Republicans took control in DC.

Even more misleading is their attempt to confuse Minnesotans about where the deficit actually exists. The $5.1 billion is in the General Fund, which is all state revenue/expenses, not the “All-Funds Budget,” which includes all of the federal transfer payments to the state. This is not a federal issue—it is a direct result of state-level fiscal mismanagement and unchecked growth of government.

Moving forward, Republicans are committed to responsible budgeting that protects taxpayers, prevents future deficits, and incentivizes long-term economic growth. We will continue to push back against efforts to raise taxes yet again and advocate for policies that make life more affordable for Minnesota families.

Protecting Whistleblowers & Limiting Executive Overreach

Beyond our fraud prevention efforts, I have two important bills being heard in committee this week that focus on government accountability and transparency:

• The Whistleblower Protections Bill (HF 23) – This bill strengthens protections for state employees who want to expose waste, fraud, or abuse of tax dollars. The current Whistleblower Protection statute doesn’t provide protection for these specific categories, so my bill incorporates definitions of “waste,” “fraud,” and “abuse” from other sections of law and extends current protections against retaliation to these categories. Encouraging employees who manage grants to come forward with problems they see will encourage transparency and integrity in state agencies and help us stop fraud before it starts. You can watch my testimony here.
• The "Never Again" Bill (HF 21) – I have been trying to pass this bill since the pandemic highlighted the need to reform this part of statute. As everyone remembers, Governor Walz declared a “public emergency” in Minnesota for the 16 months from March, 2020-July, 2021. This overreach of executive authority hurt Minnesotans in every walk of life – families, seniors, businesses owners, employees, and students. We are still recovering from the damage, as seen in inflation, student test scores and mental health struggles, business closures, etc.

Current law allows a Governor to declare a public emergency for 30 days and that declaration continues unless the State Legislature, by a majority vote in both chambers, votes to end the emergency declaration. We tried dozens of times during those 16-months to end the Governor’s emergency declaration, but we were unable to get it passed because House Democrats refused to stand up to the Governor.

My bill would bring balance to the emergency power statute by still allowing a Governor to declare a public emergency for 14 days, but the emergency would automatically expire UNLESS 3/5 of the Legislature in both the House and Senate vote to extend it.

This is an incredibly important change! Instead of the Governor having the power to decide when the emergency is over, it automatically ends unless a super-majority of both the House and Senate agree to extend it. This restores balance between the Executive & Legislative branches of government and ensures that an emergency declaration can’t last longer than 14 days unless the public truly supports it. You can watch a clip of that committee here.

Both of these bills are about making the government more accountable to the people it serves. Both bills passed out of the State Government Committee and I hope they will soon be on the House Floor!

Moratorium on Light Rail Funding (HF 14)

This bill would put a moratorium on any new light rail funding until the Southwest Metro Light Rail (Green Line) is fully operational (currently scheduled for 2027). The purpose of this bill to is pause any additional taxpayer money going to the Blue Line Extension, which would add 13 miles of new Light Rail from downtown Minneapolis to Brooklyn Park.

As we have seen with the SW Light Rail, these projects are notoriously over-budget and never delivered on time. Southwest Light Rail was originally proposed in 2011 – 14.5 miles, 16 transit stations at a cost of $1.25 billion. Now, in 2025, it is projected to cost $2.9 billion and not open until 2027 – a 232% increase!

Several bipartisan members, including me, have been raising concerns about the SW Light Rail for years, but we have not been able to stop it as the Met Council and Hennepin County always say that it is too late – we have invested too much to stop it, so we must finish it.

I don’t want that to be the argument we hear in the future about the Blue Line Extension.

The Blue Line was originally proposed in 2014 – 13.4 miles for $999 million, scheduled to open in 2022. It is now 2025 and it is now projected to cost $3.2 billion and open in 2030. That is $222 million per mile!!

To date, we have spent about $160 million in designs and studies, but construction has not started. The time to stop this project is NOW before more money is invested and building starts.

I do support more transit in this corridor – but it doesn’t have to be light rail! We could, instead, put a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line in this corridor that would give much more flexibility to meet workforce demands and cost billions less for taxpayers. Indeed, there is currently a BRT Line, the F Line, underway in the northern suburbs that is also 13 miles and is expected to cost between $75-85 million.

With a looming deficit and so many other pressing needs in Hennepin County, we should not be spending $3.2 billion on light rail. Instead, we should pivot to a more cost-effective and flexible solution and plan a BRT line to better meet the needs of the communities and the taxpayers. It is not too late to change course!

Thankfully, my bill passed out of the Transportation Committee and I hope it gets to the floor soon. You can watch the clip from the hearing here.

Photos

Great to start the day with city leaders from City of Maple Grove, MN and Local Government leaders at the Municipal Legislative Commission breakfast! Always a great event to connect with local leaders & hear about their priorities!

Enjoyed attending the Minnesota Farm Bureau Federation dinner with Mayor Marvin Johnson & Luke from Hennepin County Farm Bureau! Thankful for all of the farm families throughout MN who work so hard & drive economic growth for our state!

It was Ladies Night on Almanac at the Capitol! Thanks to Mary Lahammer for having me on to talk about the new MN House Fraud and Oversight Committee!

Great to meet with area golf course managers who were at the Capitol for Minnesota Golf Association Day on the Hill! Missed seeing Troy from Rush Creek Golf Club this year - next time!

I was happy I was able to stop by the Minnesota Credit Unions who were celebrating their 100th Anniversary in the Rotunda! Congratulations! We are thankful for all you do for our communities!

So fun to have a student from Orono Public Schools at the Capitol this week in the High School Page program! This program is open to high school juniors - applications are due in the fall for winter/spring. Looking forward to seeing Keegan all week! Also got to meet a student from my hometown, Crookston! (below)

Staying Engaged

I appreciate all of you who have reached out about these important issues. As always, I encourage you to stay involved, share your thoughts, and continue holding government accountable. If you have questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Have a great weekend, and happy Valentine’s Day!

Please Contact Me

Many of you have already been in touch to discuss your thoughts on the issues that matter most to you. Thank you for sharing your ideas! Please continue to contact me to discuss any matters to which I can be of assistance.

The best way to reach me is by email: rep.kristin.robbins@house.mn.gov. For occasional updates, you can follow my Facebook Page at @RepKristinRobbins. You can also leave a voicemail on my office number, 651-296-7806, which is checked every weekday while we are in session.

Of course, if you are coming to the Capitol, I’d love to meet you! Please reach out if you would like to set-up an in-person meeting. 

Have a great weekend!

Kristin

239 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155
ph: 651.296.7806