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Dear Neighbor,
With only nine days left in the 2026 session, it’s crunch time in the House. The big news this week is the House passed legislation creating an Office of the Inspector General that would operate independently with future law enforcement authority.
The goal has been to create an Office of Inspector General that does more than produce reports. The state needs an OIG that can take meaningful action to stop fraud without politics getting in the way. As written, this bill provides what is needed to strengthen oversight and accountability, protect taxpayer dollars, and make sure tax dollars reach the people who need them.
This marks progress in providing more transparency and accountability in state government so we can begin to address Minnesota’s fraud problem that has cost state taxpayers $9 billion or more by some estimates. The bill we passed is similar to legislation approved by the Senate on a 60-7 vote last year before partisanship blocked it in the House. The current bill (S.F. 856) makes the OIG responsible for investigating state agencies, grant recipients, and contractors. It also provides subpoena power and the authority to freeze or stop distribution of funds under court order.
This legislation is now in the hands of the Senate, which needs to approve it before it can be sent to the governor for enactment. A lot of people have worked very hard on this bill so it’s good to see it finally get to the final stages.
In other news, this week the House also passed a bill (S.F. 3432) designed to improve security with what seems to be an increase in threats of violence at the Capitol complex. Provisions in the bill attempt to address the new security risks legislators face while continuing to make the Capitol accessible to the public.
While it’s good that we passed this bill, I hope language to protect students in all Minnesota schools is added during the conference committee process before this bill comes back the House for a vote on final approval. House Republicans have presented a plan to deliver immediate, meaningful improvements across public, nonpublic, and tribal schools.
On a final note, there’s still no progress to report on this year’s ag bill as it continues to stall over the Democrats’ insistence on banning a certain herbicide. Let’s hope they drop this demand in the final week of session so we can pass the rest of the bill to help the ag industry in our state.
Sincerely,
Paul
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