Government must be ‘more vigilant’ at addressing fraud

While the verdicts in the Feeding Our Future fraud case are a step in the right direction, we still must be far more vigilant at addressing the failures in oversight by the Minnesota Department of Education that allowed this massive fraud to occur — and the Walz administration’s lackluster response. Where were the safeguards? Where was the monitoring? Where is the accountability and transparency? It is crucial that we get to the bottom of what went wrong and why the Walz administration did not take action sooner.

But we also need stronger guardrails, not just talk. It is easy to issue statements and soundbites saying that fraud against the taxpayers of Minnesota is not acceptable. But when I offered an amendment this session to protect taxpayer dollars from this exact scenario, it was rejected by Democrats on a party-line vote. That was our opportunity to show taxpayers we are serious about preventing fraud. It is disappointing my Democrat colleagues did not join us.

My amendment should be added to every budget area when the new legislative session begins in 2025.

The amendment to the Senate’sJobs and Economic Development Policy Bill would have protected taxpayer dollars used for state grants by requiring the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) along with the Office of Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) to proactively determine accountability measurements for new programs and grants of $500,000 or more, evaluate the effectiveness of those programs and grants, and report to the legislature regarding how the grant money is spent.

The amendment was modeledhttps://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/2023/0/Session+Law/Chapter/70/2023-08-07 11:36:33+00:00/pdf after similar language was successfully included in last year’s Health and Human Services bill intended to protect tax dollars within that area of government. Democrats rejected the amendment on a party-line vote.

We must do everything we can to prevent Minnesota taxpayer dollars from being used fraudulently. That was the sole intent of my amendments. Minnesotans are rightfully concerned about fraud, given our troubling recent history: from ChildCare Assistance Program fraud to Feeding Our Future, the scams seem to be getting more pervasive. We need to make sure it does not happen again. These were good government solutions to protect Minnesota taxpayers. I am hopeful they will get the bipartisan agreement it deserves next session.

In recent years, Minnesota has been the victim of a stunning number of taxpayer scams, most notably the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud scheme. The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners in a 2022 reportlisted Feeding Our Future as one of its five worst fraud cases. Other fraud cases include $9.5 million in Medicaid fraud; multiple paycheck protection program fraud schemes; and widespread Childcare Assistance Fraud.

Carla Nelson represents Senate District 24 in the Minnesota State Senate. The district includes all of Dodge County and a portion of Olmsted County including Byron.