FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MEDIA CONTACT:
Caleb Jungling, 651.296.5529 (desk)
Caleb.Jungling@house.mn.gov
News Release
House Passes Robbins’ Bill to Strengthen Whistleblower Protections for State Employees
ST. PAUL, MN – With strong bipartisan support, the Minnesota House has passed HF 23, a bill to expand whistleblower protections for state employees who report government fraud and misuse of state or federal funds. The legislation ensures that public employees can expose misconduct without fear of retaliation, strengthening transparency and accountability in state government.
“Minnesota currently has $610 million in known fraud, much of which was uncovered by courageous state employees who spoke up about wrongdoing,” said Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove). “We must ensure that those who come forward to protect taxpayer dollars and expose government mismanagement are protected—not punished—for doing the right thing.”
Minnesota law already includes whistleblower protections, but this bill strengthens them by explicitly covering reports of fraud and misuse of funds in state programs. Robbins’ bill expands whistleblower protections to cover all state employees, not just classified state workers, and explicitly includes reports of ‘fraud’ and ‘misuse’ as protected disclosures. In addition, it expands who whistleblowers can report to, now including law enforcement and other government bodies. These changes provide whistleblowers with multiple safe avenues to report concerns.
The bill passed 133-0 and now moves to the Senate, where it has already received bipartisan support.
“I am thankful for the bipartisan work to ensure the definitions of “fraud” and “misuse” are robust and I am grateful for the unanimous support of the House on this bill,” said Robbins. “This bill is about protecting state workers and ensuring that integrity prevails in our state agencies. By strengthening whistleblower protections, we are taking an important step to prevent fraud before it happens and hold bad actors accountable.”
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