Fraud committee holds final interim hearing, says bills forthcoming

Most people would say fraud of any kind is unacceptable; however, there is little to no doubt what state agencies and departments have been doing to fight program fraud has been insufficient.

“This is so outrageous for the people of Minnesota that our state government at its largest size in state history can’t fix this mess,” Rep. Isaac Schultz (R-Elmdale Township) told the House Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee Wednesday.

“We all share the fury,” echoed Rep. Dave Pinto (DFL-St. Paul), who expressed hope the committee and Legislature can reach agreements in the upcoming session to better fight activity that is costing the state billions of dollars.

“Whatever it is we’ve got to find a way forward,” he continued. “I hope we can get back to the place we were at the very start of this process of being able to work in a collaborative way.”

Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove), the committee chair, said “several bills” are being developed for introduction when legislators return to St. Paul Feb. 17 and Minnesota Management and Budget officials are also working on language. “We absolutely want to make this a bipartisan effort to give the agencies what they need.”

What Minnesota Management and Budget and the Department of Administration are doing to fight fraud — and what could be improved — was the focus of Wednesday’s meeting.

Attempts being made now

“Fraud of any kind is unacceptable,” said Erin Campbell, commissioner at Minnesota Management and Budget. “… Unfortunately, there’s not a silver bullet to stop the type of fraud that we’ve seen in our public assistance programs.

“State government is about as complex an enterprise as it gets in terms of the range of functions and its legal regulations. By design, it relies on a de-centralized structure of state agencies to carry out its functions and services to the public. To address fraud systematically and enterprise-wide requires layers of coordinated activities, increased control and security, better uses of data and changes to state statute.”

Examples, she said, could include laws that set appropriate requirements for provider eligibility to get state funds, updating IT systems to provide data analysis and date sharing, authority for agencies to suspend payments when fraud is suspected and prohibiting someone suspended from receiving frauds from one program to receive funds from another.

[MORE: View the MMB presentation]

No recourse is now available for Minnesota Management and Budget to hold other agencies and departments accountable.

“We step in with support,” Deputy Commissioner Britta Reitan said, citing examples such as agency personnel looking at improving internal controls, better training and working through Office of the Legislative Auditor findings. “We need tools that are more robust and more advanced that we currently have in some of our large-scale programs.” 

Added Stacie Christensen, deputy commissioner at the Department of Administration, “There is more work ahead.”

[MORE: Department of Administration presentation]