Dear Neighbor, The House is heading into the home stretch of the 2026 session, with only 19 days until our May 17 deadline to adjourn. It’s even less time if you consider we can’t pass any bills on the last day of session. There are a number of things that we absolutely need to get done this session, such as providing meaningful tax relief for Minnesota families and businesses and approving a “real” Office of the Inspector General bill to crack down on fraud in our state by establishing an office that is independent from the Governor. We also need to pass a bill to fix state grant program problems within our higher education system. Those are pressing issues that demand urgency the last days of session. I sincerely hope we deliver the results Minnesotans deserve. For now, here’s a look at other recent notes from the House: House approves two anti-fraud bills It was good to see bipartisan support as the House approved two anti-fraud bills last week. One bill (H.F. 4425) extends the statute of limitations for crimes involving theft of public funds, including medical assistance fraud, from six years to 10 years. This gives prosecutors more time to investigate complex fraud schemes and ensures that those who steal from taxpayers cannot escape accountability by waiting out the clock. Extending the statute of limitations is one step toward restoring accountability in Minnesota. The other bill (H.F. 3496) strengthens accountability in the state’s corrections system by ensuring individuals on supervised release make good-faith effort to pay restitution before qualifying for early active release from supervision. This is a simple, fair step to strengthen accountability, support victims, and strengthen public trust in our justice system. Fraud isn’t Free Act The Fraud Isn’t Free Act (H.F. 3395), provides consequences for state workers who allow fraud, waste, and abuse of tax dollars to take place in state programs either through negligence or misconduct. Complicit individuals will face real penalties, including pay cuts, termination, and bans from state employment. Unfortunately, House Democrats blocked advancement of this bill on the House floor last week. House Democrats the very same day voted against unannounced site visits for organizations receiving government grants. In particular, the measure: - Requires reporting to the Legislature whenever an agency approves an exception to grant rules. Replaces “waste” with “misuse” to broaden what counts as improper spending Creates tiered monitoring based on grant size:
- Under $50K: one virtual check
- $50K–$250K: annual in-person visit
- Over $250K: two in-person visits per year, including one unannounced
- Requires financial reconciliation before final payment (quarterly for grants over $500K)
- Allows the state to withhold funds if required reports aren’t submitted
- Directs the state to update grant policies to match these rules
This is a very strong fraud prevention measure to monitor more closely hundreds of millions of grant dollars disbursed by state agencies. House Democrats blocked it and said it cost too much money. That’s interesting because we were not presented a “fiscal note” indicating how much this measure would cost, but every single grant already has a baked-in an administrative cost anyway, so that argument is built on a faulty premise. But, just for the sake of argument, let’s say there is a cost to this oversight that exceeds what can be taken on as an administrative cost. As much as I would hate to do it, we would just need to increase administrative costs because this is good governance that will benefit taxpayers in the long run by helping to curtail fraud that is pervasive in Minnesota’s government programs. Click here for video of me addressing this subject on the House floor. Bill to increase ‘sextortion’ penalties passes The House this week unanimously passed House Republican legislation to increase penalties for “sextortion” crimes. The 2021 death of an Olivia teen put this issue on the radar in Minnesota. He was just 16 years old when he took his own life after becoming the victim of an online sextortion hoax. But this is not an isolated case and a top official with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension even called it a “pandemic that has taken our country by storm.” I have worked on issues related to this subject for a number of years in the House and it’s good to see unanimous approval of this bill. The bill (H.F. 2358) imposes enhanced penalties for some sextortion violations. If the offense substantially contributes to the victim suffering great bodily harm, the penalty may be imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. If the offense substantially contributes to the victim’s death, the penalty may be imprisonment of up to 15 years, a fine of up to $30,000, or both. The legislation also takes financial factors into consideration on an escalating scale for these crimes. At maximum, violations resulting in gains or losses of $2,500 or more may carry imprisonment of up to 10 years, a fine of up to $20,000, or both. The increased penalties it provides would become law on Aug. 1, pending enactment. Domestic abuser firearm compliance  The House passed a bipartisan bill (H.F. 4075) that creates a follow-up hearing to ensure dangerous domestic abusers who have been ordered by the court not to possess firearms actually comply with that court order. This bill closes a dangerous loophole in Minnesota’s Order For Protection (OFP) enforcement that has long been a problem. According to KARE, in 2016, there were 2,937 OFP cases statewide automatically requiring gun transfers. Only 119 of them had a firearm transfer affidavit on file with the court. The affidavit states that the guns were safely transferred. In other words, nobody is following up to ensure the court’s orders to remove guns from dangerous violent domestic abusers are being upheld. This has led to several murder cases by domestic abusers who shouldn’t have had firearms in the first place. My neighbor and I suffered a horrific experience and I shared our story with the House as this bill was discussed on the House floor. Click here for the video. |