Dear Neighbor,
Greetings from the House, where Democrats continue dreaming up partisanship out of thin air in weak attempts to justify standing against legislation to help Minnesotans. Here are some of those latest notes and more from the House:
OLA report
For years, credible allegations of illegal kickbacks centered on the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention program were brought to the attention of the Walz Administration, which consistently declined to investigate and cited the inaccurate claim that it lacked the authority to act.
This week, a nonpartisan Office of the Legislative Auditor report found that, despite excuses from the Walz Administration and the Department of Human Services, the state has long possessed the authority to investigate kickback allegations.
The OLA report indicates that DHS erroneously asserted it lacked authority to address three specific EIDBI kickback complaints. The department could have amended internal policies to prevent these abuses.
This pattern reflects a consistent prioritization of spending taxpayer dollars over accountability and compliance within the Walz administration. Moving forward, House Republicans are committed to pursuing the additional reforms highlighted in this report to ensure stronger oversight and protection of public resources.
A vote against MN businesses
House Democrats voted to harm Minnesota job creators for no good reason this week when they blocked legislation (H.F. 3127) that would provide tax relief for Minnesota businesses by conforming with federal policy. On the floor, the House Republican lead on taxes estimated this would amount to a combined $2.05 billion for 66,000 businesses in Minnesota.
There is no cost to the state of Minnesota for passing this bill.
This need not be a partisan issue, but Minnesotans House Democrats made it anyway, taking small businesses hostage while talking about using this bill to negotiate a trade for something. They are delaying, causing deadlines to pass that harm Minnesota businesses and jobs in our state for no good reason other than political power.
This bill is a freebie for the House to pass, but Democrats told Minnesotans to pound sand. It’s the same approach as Democrats took last week when they adamantly opposed legislation allowing our state to capitalize on a federal program to deliver more education funding for our state, again at zero cost to the state.
Public safety
Much of the chaos we've seen in Minnesota has been the direct result of policies that intentionally block cooperation with federal law enforcement. Our state’s own attorney general issued opinions that effectively nullify federal law enforcement partnerships. One opinion blocked the use of 2.87(g) agreements, the gold standard for federal state cooperation on immigration enforcement. Another provided legal cover for sheriffs to ignore ice detainers, and the results have been stark. In Hennepin County, the sheriff’s office complied with only 8 percent of ICE detainers over a two-year period, while Ramsey County complied with only 6 percent.
When jails refuse to honor detainers, immigration enforcement has to move outside of the safety of a jail out into our streets. When officers are forced to track that person down in a home in a neighborhood or workplace, the risk to both officers and to everyone involved increases dramatically. Polls show 85 percent of Minnesotans believe local law enforcement should cooperate with federal immigration authorities to deport illegal immigrants in some or all cases.
A House Republican bill (H.F. 16) would encourage arresting people in the controlled environment of a jail. Unfortunately, House Democrats this week voted against declaring urgency on this bill, preventing common-sense local law enforcement helping to deport criminal illegal aliens that pose serious public safety risks in Minnesota.
Housing program stopped
The House unanimously passed legislation this week to remove the Housing Stabilization Services program from state statute due to serious concerns about fraud and inadequate oversight. The program was tied to the misuse of hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars, comparable in scale to the Feeding Our Future scandal. These incidents highlight ongoing challenges in protecting public funds and reinforce the need for strong accountability measures. The bill (H.F. 3379) is now in the hands of the Senate.
Have a good weekend and, as always, please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Harry