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Dear Friends and Neighbors,
The 2026 Legislative Session officially began this week as we gaveled in for the first time on Tuesday. Committees started meeting on Wednesday, and we have already begun hearing overviews and introducing bills for the year ahead. It is an honor to be back at the Capitol representing our district and getting to work on the issues that matter most to our communities. Thank you for your support!
Key Priorities
As we get moving on legislative work, there are a handful of priorities we are honing in on this session. These closely mirror the priorities we advanced last year, which underscore our continued focus on making real progress on these issues. Our caucus priorities are as follows:
- Stop the Fraud
- Make Minnesota Affordable
- Make Minnesota Safe
- Raise Standards, Reduce Mandates
- Make Minnesota Competitive
- Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans
As you can see, “Stop the Fraud” is first on the list and stands as our top priority this session. Fraud estimates in Minnesota have now surpassed $9 billion, which equates to roughly $3,840 per household lost. That is taxpayer money intended for seniors, students, families, and vulnerable Minnesotans that instead ended up in the hands of bad actors.
This problem has been going on for years across multiple public programs, and Minnesotans are rightfully outraged. While the headlines often focus on the perpetrators, the true victims are hardworking taxpayers who expect their dollars to be used responsibly and effectively. Hardworking, taxpaying Minnesotans deserve transparency and accountability of their taxpayer dollars. Families across our state budget carefully, pay their taxes on time, and trust that government will exercise the same level of care with their money.
Beyond the financial impact, fraud on this scale erodes public trust in government’s ability to properly administer and safeguard public funds. When accountability is weak and oversight falls short, confidence in critical state programs declines. If we want these programs to remain strong and sustainable, we must restore integrity, enforce meaningful oversight, and ensure taxpayer dollars are protected.
That is why we are pushing for stronger oversight, real accountability measures, and structural reforms that prevent fraud before it happens, not just respond after the fact. Immediate action is necessary. Without it, the fraud continues and the dollars lost keep climbing. This is precisely why we need an Independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG), to be the watchdog over state programs and provide legitimate oversight with enforcement capability. SF856 would establish this office, we have been pushing this legislation since last session. The Senate version of the bill was passed in a bipartisan manner, 60-7, but House Democrats refused to even hold a vote on the bill. In the State Government Committee this week, the DFL introduced an amendment that would gut our original, bipartisan bill leaving an Office of Inspector General with no law enforcement ability. This 'OIG in name only' amendment would not accomplish any oversight or enforcement and is instead just a DFL tactic to show an effort without providing results. GOP members of the committee voted against the DFL amendment, due to its lack of enforcement ability. Currently, this bill is being held hostage by Democrats in the State Gov. Committee.
Stopping fraud is not just about recovering dollars, although that is important. It is also about restoring confidence that state government is working responsibly and that taxpayer resources are being used for their intended purpose.
Fraud in the Headlines
The Department of Human Services (DHS) operates the second largest budget of any state agency. At roughly $17 billion in Minnesota tax dollars, it accounts for about 40 percent of Minnesota’s total state budget. With that scale of funding comes significant responsibility, yet many of the largest fraud cases in recent years have occurred within programs overseen by DHS.
Examples include fraud tied to:
The concentration of cases within these programs has raised serious questions about internal controls, oversight capacity, and how early warning signs were handled. Establishing the Independent OIG with real power and actual teeth would be a major step in the right direction toward oversight and punishment for fraudsters.
Those concerns only intensified following the department’s recent fraud risk review. DHS released a report, conducted by third party auditing service called Optum, examining vulnerabilities across Medicaid and human services programs, identifying multiple service areas as high risk for fraud, waste, and abuse. However, large portions of the report were redacted before it was made public. Key details related to investigative findings, provider risk profiles, and oversight failures were withheld, limiting transparency into what the department knew and when.
The redactions have frustrated both lawmakers and the public. When billions in taxpayer dollars are at stake, transparency is essential. A heavily redacted report makes it difficult to evaluate the full scope of program weaknesses or determine whether corrective actions go far enough. It also raises broader concerns about whether systemic issues are being fully disclosed and addressed.
Another deeply concerning issue is that individuals who commit fraud have been found receiving taxpayer dollars from multiple public programs at the same time. Last session, we passed legislation that was signed into law allowing public agencies to suspend funding to individuals who have been convicted of defrauding a public program and are under serious criminal investigation.
However, we have yet to receive clear information about whether this authority is being fully utilized or how consistently it is being enforced. Even with additional safeguards now in place, fraud appears to be continuing. That reality reinforces the urgent need for a truly independent Office of the Inspector General to ensure accountability and prevent abuse across state programs.
Shoutouts
I want to give a huge shoutout to the UNC Warriors wrestling team who are heading to state next week! They qualified as the fourth seed, and will face off against Jackson County Central on Wednesday, February 25th at Grand Casino Arena in St. Paul. Way to go!
Congratulations also to the Park Rapids Boys Hockey team on their playoff run. Although they fell to #1 seed Warroad in the quarterfinals, they had a fantastic season and have a lot to be proud of. Congrats!
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