Friends and Neighbors, This week in our human services committee, we approved a bill designed to stop the next big fraud scandal before it happens. This legislation will create an independent Office of the Inspector General to investigate and prevent fraud, waste, and abuse; require agencies to halt payments when fraud is suspected, rather than continuing to fund bad actors; and establish a fraud reporting hotline for state employees and the public to report suspicious activity. It’s interesting; everyone is in favor of eliminating fraud, yet the Democrats are concerned about agencies having to comply with surprise visits. To be clear, surprise visits should happen but are not being made. So, fraud exists, yet no one is looking for it. People from all walks of life have to deal with surprise visits. In agriculture, we see milk inspector visits. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency looks at waste handling. Hair salons receive regular visits. It’s all part of being licensed. Checks are not planned in advance. That’s the way it works! Yet these agencies want more money and more staff, and they’re currently not doing the work they’re supposed to be doing. For weeks I’ve been asking if allowing agency staff to work from home has been efficient. It may or may not be. But if it’s not, efficiency should be one of our top goals, right up there with eliminating waste, fraud and abuse in state government. PRESERVE GIRLS’ SPORTS ACT MOVES AHEAD This week, the education policy committee approved the Preserving Girls Sports Act, which would maintain fairness and safety in girls’ athletics. Basically, athletes who were born as boys would not be able to participate in sporting events designed for girls. It’s unreal that we apparently have to pass statewide legislation in order to keep biological males out of girls’ sports. Just this week, a boy won the girls’ state championship for pole vault in Maine, and his high school won the girls’ team state championship because of the points he earned. Click here to learn more. Think about the poor girl who came in second place. Or the team that should have won the state championship but didn’t. It’s a travesty. Minnesota can and should do better. RESTORING ELECTRONIC PULL TABS American Legions, VFW’s, and other organizations that offer the wildly successful electronic pull tabs are noticing a significant decline in use after legislative Democrats voted last session to remove popular features on the gaming systems. A January 2024 to January 2025 monthly sales comparison finds that businesses are experiencing a 20% - 40% drop in play. That’s bad news for local charities like EMS groups, food shelves, and youth sports teams who benefit from the charitable gambling proceeds electronic pull tabs provide. Last year $386 million was generated in net revenue from electronic pull tabs. If you projected a 30% decrease in funding, that would result in a $115 million loss this year for charities statewide. To stop this problem, House legislation would restore e-pull tabs back to their original, and more popular form. The thing I like about charitable gambling is that it’s a voluntary revenue stream. You can play if you want. The electronic pull tabs are played in a business, so the business benefits. Reducing a voluntary revenue stream by 20% - 40%, hurting businesses, and damaging local charities in the process, is something our state should avoid. |