The Land of 10,000... DHS Whistleblowers?

The Land of 10,000... DHS Whistleblowers?

Friends and neighbors,

At this week's Fraud Committee, Minnesotans had the opportunity to hear testimony from Faye Bernstein. Ms. Bernstein is one of the many brave whistleblowers from within the Department of Human Services who were retaliated against by the Walz Administration for bringing to light potential fraud.

The treatment of Ms. Bernstein by DHS leadership is despicable, and I am calling for the resignation of Commissioner Shireen Gandhi. Commissioner Gandhi served as Chief Compliance Officer at the DHS throughout the fraud epidemic and was shockingly promoted to Commissioner by Governor Walz at the end of February. Ms. Gandhi's appointment as Commissioner demonstrates Governor Walz's desire to obfuscate the fraud occurring and is the perfect example of the rot taking place inside our state institutions.

Click HERE to watch Ms. Bernstein's testimony on whistleblower retaliation.

I am continuing to fight for the passage of the Office of the Inspector General Bill and the Fraud Isn't Free Act. If enacted, these bills will drastically improve the state government's ability to combat fraud and place financial penalties on bureaucrats who fail to protect our money.

Quintuple Car Tab Fees? No Thanks!

Minnesotans are tired of paying the exorbitant car tab fees passed by the DFL Trifecta when they were in control in 2023. Everyone knows that these fees are simply another money grab to fund more wasteful government spending.

For this reason, Republicans have introduced legislation to reduce car tab fees back to what they were before being hiked by the DFL Trifecta.

However, this week, Rep. Meg Luger-Nikolai (D-St. Paul) suggested, "At some point, [she] may offer an amendment to quintuple the rates of these registration fees, so that we may fund other projects in the state that everybody deems worthy."

Click HERE to watch Rep. Meg Luger-Nikolai's comments.

Enough is enough! Minnesotans stand in wholehearted opposition to yet another FIVEFOLD increase to our already inflated car tab fees! 

House Republicans are not going to let this happen. However, if the DFL gains all three branches of government again, this is certainly an avenue that they will pursue.

I will continue to stand for car tab fee reductions to alleviate financial pressure on hardworking Minnesotans.

Solving Minnesota's "Net Metering" Problem

In yesterday's Energy Committee hearing, we heard testimony and questioned executives from the solar industry regarding Minnesota as a pricing outlier when it comes to selling excess energy back to utility companies.

When a home has solar panels installed, there are points in time when the panels are creating more energy output than the home can consume. This excess energy needs to travel somewhere, so it is then sold back to utility companies in a process known as "net metering." At a macro level, this is a positive for both the homeowner and Minnesota's overall electrical production.

However, Minnesota is one of only a few states in the country where utilities are required to purchase this extra energy from homeowners at retail price, meaning that these homeowners avoid contributing to the infrastructure costs that go into operating a utility company (labor, power lines, poles, etc.). Essentially, anyone who does not have solar panels on their roof is subsidizing the profits of those that do through higher monthly electrical bills. As more people install solar, this equation will become increasingly lopsided, and non-solar homes will see their electrical bills exponentially increase to cover these fixed costs.

The solar executives we questioned maintained that they do not advertise their product as a business model when pitching solar to homeowners. During my questioning, I pressed them on this notion, as I have personally been approached by solar companies who have provided me with a timeline for when I would begin to make a profit off of my energy production.

Click HERE to watch my questioning of solar energy executives.

I have no problem with homeowners profiting off of their solar production, and I am happy for those who do. I just want to ensure that homeowners who choose not to install solar panels aren't forced to subsidize the profits of those who do.

The solution will be to legislate an equation for utilities to buy excess solar power at a rate that also takes into account the utility's infrastructure costs that go into power distribution. In this way, we will create an electrical system that benefits all.

Thank you to those of you who came to visit me this week at the State Capitol!

If you have any questions or priorities that you would like to share with me, I would love to hear from you. Your advocacy for the causes that you care most about is what allows me to represent your voice through legislation.

Have a great weekend,

Tom Murphy

MN State Representative District 9B

Proudly Serving Otter Tail and Douglas Counties

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