ST. PAUL, Minn. -- House Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a trio of bills aimed at preventing the theft of taxpayer money in public programs.
The anti-fraud push at the capitol follows two recent high-profile cases of people stealing hundreds of millions from state programs intended to help children. Dozens were charged in the $250 million Feeding Our Future scheme and more recently, federal investigators accuse two autism centers of billing Medicaid for bogus claims.
Some of the suspects in the autism center case are linked to the Feeding Our Future case, a federal search warrant said.
"Fraud is not a partisan issue. I don't care who you talk to -- people want their money spent wisely, and they want people to get the services they deserve," said Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, who will chair the newly minted fraud prevention and oversight committee, which will have its first meeting next week.
GOP proposals would establish an Office of Inspector General that reports to the legislature -- not the executive branch -- that would have subpoena powers for its investigations. Republicans also want stricter rules for government workers about when they need to flag potential problems and establish criminal penalties for neglecting that duty.
Another bill would create a system to keep track of state agencies' compliance with recommendations from the Office of the Legislative Auditor, a nonpartisan watchdog that has released several reports scrutinizing state agencies' oversight and administration of public programs.
Gov. Tim Walz earlier this month put forward his own ideas to crack down on these financial crimes. He wants lawmakers to beef up the attorney general's Medicaid fraud unit and launch a pilot program using artificial intelligence to spot payment irregularities and other warning signs early, among other proposals.
"What we've seen in the last number of years under the Walz administration has been rampant waste, fraud and abuse," said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia on Thursday. "I welcome the fact that the governor has acknowledged this, but as legislators, we have to take our own due diligence and our own steps to do this, and this is a great way to do so."
Democrats have also said they are interested in tackling the issue this year. DFL Sen. Heather Gustafson is also authoring a bill to establish an Office of Inspector General.