Hello from the State Capitol,
As we enter the final weekend of session, here’s a quick review of what happened in the Minnesota House this week.
DEMOCRATS ALLOWED FRAUD TO FESTER
On Wednesday, the Minnesota House Fraud Prevention and State Oversight Committee adopted its Majority Report, capping a far-reaching two-year investigation into systemic fraud within Minnesota state government programs. The report compiles findings from dozens of hearings and presents a series of recommendations intended to strengthen oversight, restore public trust, and safeguard taxpayer dollars from future abuse.
The report outlines what committee members describe as a pattern of government failure that allowed large-scale fraud schemes to grow unchecked across multiple state-administered programs. It places significant responsibility on the Walz Administration, accusing state leadership of failing to adequately detect, prevent, or confront widespread misuse of public funds.
According to the report, both the Dayton and Walz Administrations fostered conditions in which fraud was able to expand through inadequate oversight, bureaucratic complacency, and repeated failures to respond to warnings raised by investigators, auditors, and whistleblowers. The committee alleges that state agencies routinely overlooked warning signs, failed to pursue credible evidence of misconduct, and sought to downplay public scrutiny even as the scope of fraud escalated.
The report also cites a December 2025 estimate from former U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson, who stated that fraud across 14 high-risk Medicaid programs may have reached as much as $9 billion.
After conducting more than two dozen hearings, the fraud committee concluded that:
- Democrats in the Dayton and Walz Administrations, as well as in the Minnesota House of Representatives, took steps to suppress findings of fraud
- The Walz Administration enabled fraud by poor program design and weak controls
- The Walz Administration’s failure to hold anyone accountable for fraud, especially after having had the benefit of the OLA reports in March and April of 2019, is what enabled fraud to grow from an estimated $5 million - $100 million in the childcare program to billions across multiple Medicaid services
- Attorney General Ellison has failed to protect taxpayers and vulnerable Minnesotans
- Representative Ilhan Omar created the conditions for Feeding our Future
The findings and recommendations in this report cannot be ignored if Minnesota hopes to reverse the entrenched culture of government incompetence, weak oversight, and bureaucratic failure that allowed these scandals to flourish. For too long, state agencies operated with little accountability while billions of taxpayer dollars were exposed to waste, fraud, and abuse.
Taxpayers deserve a government that treats public dollars responsibly, protects vulnerable citizens instead of politically connected fraudsters, and enforces strict oversight over every program funded by hardworking Minnesotans. Restoring trust in state government will require sustained vigilance, stronger enforcement, and a clear commitment to accountability over political protection.
YOUTH SOCIAL MEDIA RESTRICTION BILL APPROVED IN HOUSE
The Minnesota House passed important legislation aimed at protecting children from the growing dangers of social media and reining in the unchecked influence of Big Tech companies on our kids.
The bill requires verifiable parental consent before children under the age of 16 can create social media accounts. Even when parents approve access, those accounts will be stripped of many of the addictive features intentionally designed to keep children glued to their screens — including infinite scrolling, autoplay content, and push notifications. The legislation puts parents back in charge and takes meaningful steps to protect children from online manipulation.
The evidence against social media’s impact on young people is overwhelming. Teenagers now spend hours every day consuming content on platforms engineered to maximize addiction and screen time. Studies continue to link excessive social media use to rising rates of anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance abuse, self-harm, and other serious mental health problems among young people.
Meanwhile, massive tech corporations like TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube generate enormous profits by exploiting children’s attention spans and harvesting user data. The longer kids stay online, the more money these companies make through advertising, targeted content, and product promotion. Their algorithms are specifically designed to push emotionally charged and often harmful material to vulnerable users — including content related to drugs, sex, body image, and dangerous behavior.
For years, Big Tech has prioritized profits over the well-being of children while parents have been left with fewer tools to protect their families. This legislation is a long-overdue step toward restoring parental authority, limiting the power of social media companies, and protecting the next generation from the damaging effects of online addiction.
The more we can do to get kids off their screens, away from toxic online content, and focused on healthy real-world relationships and activities, the better off our society will be. I’m proud the House took action this week to stand with parents and put the safety of Minnesota children ahead of the interests of Big Tech corporations.
E-MOTO BILL READY FOR HOUSE DEBATE
On Sunday, the Minnesota House is scheduled to debate my e-moto bill, which would ensure that electric motorcycles must follow the same rules as any other motorcycle. You’ll recall a Hastings resident nearly died after being hit by an e-moto on the sidewalk, so we need this bill to be approved in order to prevent future accidents and injuries. In addition to sidewalk and street safety, the bill also provides a pathway for electric motorcycles to become legal for use on our streets. Hopefully we can get this proposal across the finish line before session adjourns
GLOBAL DEAL REACHED
House and Senate leadership, as well as Governor Walz, reached agreement this week on a framework that will help taxpayers, address fraud, and hopefully make life easier for Minnesotans. The highlight is $400 million in tax relief for Minnesotans. A capital investment bill will also be included, and I remain very optimistic that funding will be included to assist the City of Hastings construct water treatment facilities in order to deal with its PFAS problems. All of these details are still being worked on, so I’ll have more to report on this after session concludes.
Have a good weekend,
Tom