FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
News Release
Chair Robbins statement on Paid Family Medical Leave hearing
ST. PAUL – The House Fraud Prevention and State Oversight Policy Committee on Wednesday held a hearing with representatives from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to discuss how to prevent potential fraud in the Paid Family & Medical Leave (PFML) program.
PFML provides paid time off for qualifying family or medical events. It affects all employees in the state, whether full-time, part-time or seasonal and affects all businesses with at least one employee. Eligible employees may receive up to 12 weeks of family and up to 12 weeks of medical leave. Benefits will be funded through a 0.88% payroll tax, which can be split between employers and employees. DEED may also increase the tax – without legislative approval – to 1.1%. The program begins January 1, 2026.
Chair Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) issued the following statement after the panel met Wednesday:
“This hearing was essential,” stated Chair Robbins. “We always talk about the need to stop fraud on the front end, but this is the first time we have ever held a hearing to evaluate a program for potential fraud before it becomes law. I hope this becomes a normal practice in the legislature.”
Chair Robbins noted that hearing raised many questions about potential vectors for fraud in the Paid Family & Medical Leave program. “House Republicans pointed out numerous flaws with the law that remain unaddressed, including how eligibility of providers will be verified, how intermittent leave will be monitored, and how many caregivers can provide care for the same person for the same medical situation. This law is going to have a significant cost to every Minnesota worker and every Minnesota business, and we want to make sure DEED has the internal controls in place to ensure the millions of tax dollars that will flow into this program will not be wasted or abused.”
“It was important that we had a public hearing on the concerns that were raised today. As a committee, one of our top priorities is to prevent fraud before Minnesotans’ hard-earned money goes out the door – especially in new government programs. We don’t want to always be reacting to fraud that could have been avoided.”
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