Dear Neighbor, Greetings from the House, where the full body has now fully organized after the House Democrat shutdown ended at 23 days. Here is the latest: The House came to order Thursday, February 6th after Republicans and Democrats reached an organizational agreement Wednesday. There are great wins for Republicans in the agreement that should be celebrated. But, before we get into those facts, I want to express my disappointment over the misinformation that the political grifters are circulating on this subject. House Republicans fought the Democrats and won. We successfully forced Democrats back to work while securing a five-week Republican majority, two years with a Republican Speaker, and a two-year majority on the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee. Here’s a closer look at terms in the organizational agreement we negotiated for this biennium: - There will be a Republican Speaker of the House for the first time in six years. As Speaker, Lisa Demuth will be the second-most powerful elected official in Minnesota.
- Republicans will chair the new House committee we established to investigate fraud in state government programs for two years and have a 5-3 voting margin over Democrats. The committee does have subpoena power, with a vote of 6 of the members.
- Republicans have committee chairmanships and majorities on all committees for the entire five-week period leading up to the March 11 special election in District 40B (Roseville).
- We will return to a split committee roster and co-chairs ONLY IF the Roseville seat returns to Democrats.
- Even if the House returns to an even 67-67 split, Rep. Demuth remains the sole Speaker of the House with the full power of that office.
The fact we have Rep. Demuth as our speaker for the duration of this biennium, and Republicans have a controlling majority in the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, are game changers. Rep. Demuth gives us a goalie to block the radical legislation the Democrat trifecta passed into law unchecked the last two years. And staking a permanent Republican chair and majority in the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee means we can take this subject seriously after Democrats allowed fraud to run rampant in Minnesota the last two years. (More on that shortly.) Under a Republican House Majority, we will advance to the floor our top priorities that include: - Creating independent Office of Inspector General to root out the billions of dollars in Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (HF 1)
- Implementing tax cuts on the gas tax, delivery tax, tab fees, and Social Security (HF 5)
- Demanding election integrity by requiring Voter ID, and other steps to ensure citizens can vote, and no one can cheat
- Combatting illegal immigration by prohibiting state funds for illegals and a state version of the Laken Riley bill (HF 10)
- Prohibiting boys to play girls sports (HF 12)
- Prohibiting Minnesota from being a “sanctuary state” (HF 16)
- Establishing lifetime permits for guns and other 2nd Amendment efforts (HF 17)
- Requiring a supermajority to renew emergency declaration, preventing an overreach of executive power like Walz did during Covid (HF 21)
- Creating a Parents Bill of Rights (HF 22) and providing local control for our schools (HF 6)
- Passing the “Born Alive Protection Act” and other pro-life efforts (HF 24)
None of these efforts could be voted on or highlighted if we had allowed the Democrats to boycott the legislative session for a few more weeks. The bottom line is this shutdown had gone on far too long. We needed the House to organize and begin taking official action on issues before time ran out. House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee met Monday  I am pleased to be a member of the newly created House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee, and we conducted our first meeting with members of both parties present on Monday, February 10. The committee’s first hearing focused on the oversight of taxpayer-funded grants to nonprofit organizations as was detailed in their 2023 OLA report Oversight of State-Funded Grants to Nonprofit Organizations. State Legislative Auditor Judy Randall and Deputy Auditor Jodi Munson Rodriguez testified on the office’s findings, outlining systemic issues in grant management and oversight by state agencies.  During testimony, Auditor Randall noted that “state agencies don’t necessarily approach their work with an oversight and regulatory mindset.” She emphasized the need for better training and accountability measures, stating that the most successful agencies overseeing grants take their oversight responsibilities seriously. During the testimony, the OLA stated they found “pervasive noncompliance” with policies that are meant to stop fraud. It is incredibly important to have oversight over nonprofits as in just a five-year period that the report covered, $2.6 billion dollars of taxpayer funds were distributed to approximately 2500 different nonprofits across 27 state agencies. Twenty five percent of the nonprofits received grants from more than one state agency and we discovered that the agencies do not communicate with each other about grantees. The House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee will continue its work in the coming weeks, holding hearings and investigating how taxpayer dollars are being managed across state agencies and what types of policies the Legislature can pursue to prevent future fraud. Chair Robbins reiterated that addressing fraud and government accountability is not a partisan issue but is rather a separation of powers issue. It is a fundamental duty of the Legislature to oversee the Executive branch agencies. I dug into some of the exorbitant salaries some executive staff are taking while working for organizations that get over 50% of their funding from government. Here's a quick clip from today's meeting where I discuss this issue. I have been meeting with dozens of whistleblowers and their information has been shocking. As mentioned last week, there is plenty of work to do with fraud in Minnesota programs estimated to be $610 million since 2019. Visit the House Fraud and Agency Oversight Committee’s web page for further updates, video, agendas, etc. Hearings will take place weekly at 8:15 a.m. Monday. House Republicans introduce “Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans” initiative  House Republicans have launched legislation to ensure state-funded programs and taxpayer resources are reserved for legal residents, while also strengthening immigration enforcement. House Republicans recently hosted a press conference to outline this proposal. The two main features of the Minnesota Tax Dollars for Minnesotans plan include: - Ensuring state-funded benefits go to legal residents (HF 10): This measure prohibits immigrants who are here illegally from receiving state-funded financial aid, grants, subsidies, or other taxpayer-funded assistance, including programs such as the North Star Promise college tuition program and MinnesotaCare.
- Banning sanctuary cities and strengthening immigration enforcement (HF 16): This legislation prevents local and state government entities from enacting policies that restrict cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. It also mandates reporting immigrants who are here illegally be arrested for violent crimes to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ensuring that criminals who are here unlawfully are held accountable.
Sanctuary policies that shield violent offenders from deportation only make our communities unsafe. This proposal helps to protect Minnesotans, restores fiscal responsibility, and ensures Minnesota’s laws are upheld. This is about fairness, accountability, and making sure state resources go where they are needed most—to legal residents of our state. House Republicans will continue to push for stronger financial oversight, smarter spending, and policies that put Minnesotans first as the legislative session continues. Watch for more from the Capitol soon, especially as we work to make up for time we lost during the House Democrat shutdown. |