Dear Neighbor, The House kicked off another busy week in the House by passing a Higher Education Bill as we enter the final 12 days of this legislative session. Here are my notes on that subject and more: Taiwanese Friendship Caucus  On Monday, May 4, members of a Taiwanese delegation visited the Capitol and attended the House session in which a resolution was read recognizing Minnesota’s ongoing partnership with Taiwan during Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Month. As a co-chair of the Taiwan Friendship Caucus, I joined Senators Hoffman and Rarick in welcoming Director General Dennis Yen-Feng Lei and Vice Consul Jay Chia-Ming Lin. A few years ago, members of the Taiwan Friendship Caucus, including Senator Rarick and me, traveled to Taiwan to engage in discussions on issues important to the relationship between our state and Taiwan. This week’s visit, along with passage of the resolution, reaffirmed our commitment to maintaining strong ties. Minnesota and Taiwan have shared a strong partnership since 1984, including robust trade, tourism, and cultural and educational exchanges. Taiwan is a top U.S. trade partner and a key link in global technology supply chains. Per the resolution, the U.S. ranks as Taiwan's second-largest trading partner. Taiwan is? the eighth-largest trading partner of the United States, and bilateral trade reached more than $185.7? billion in 2024. From 2021 to 2024, United States-Taiwan trade grew by 62 percent, reaching? $158.6 billion, with Taiwan's direct investment in the U.S. totaling $14.1 billion. Furthermore, Taiwan imported $8.46 billion worth of United States farm products between? 2021 and 2024, making it the ninth-largest market for United States soybeans and corn, benefiting? Minnesota farmers and our state in general. The resolution affirms support for the Taiwan Relations Act and encourages Minnesota businesses to refer to Taiwan by its proper name. It also backs Taiwan’s efforts to secure agreements with the United States, including a Bilateral Trade Agreement, an Avoidance of Double Taxation Agreement, and participation in the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity. Additionally, it reinforces support for strengthening economic and trade ties between Minnesota and Taiwan. As co-chair of the Taiwan Friendship Caucus, I am proud to stand with the people of Taiwan and support this important resolution. Higher Education bill  The House on Monday passed this year’s Higher Education finance bill (H.F. 4252) by a 82-52 vote. For the first time in my 14-year legislative career, I voted, “no” on a bill that I worked very hard on. (See my closing comments at this link). House Democrats refuse to even begin to fix the structural imbalance that they themselves created during their ’23 trifecta causing recurring massive deficits in the State Grant Program (SGP). The State Grant Program shortfall is not just $102 million as previously reported to us; it’s actually $131 million because under Walz’s leadership, the Minnesota Office of Higher Education robbed $60 million from Year 2 of the biennium and spent $45 of it in Year 1. I came to the negotiations table with four pages of solutions to fix the massive $131 million hole and Democrats came with ZERO solutions. They said they just wanted to pour more money into the hole that is growing larger by the day. I guess the word is out, get free college in Minnesota, come and get it. And, oh, did they come. During markup of the Higher Education finance bill, Republicans offered common-sense solutions as amendments to help fill the SGP hole, including eliminating negative Student Aid Index numbers, lowering the income cap for North Star Promise eligibility from $80,000 to $70,000, and barring undocumented noncitizen students from receiving aid. House Democrats blocked each proposal. House Democrats even voted down an amendment to stop what one of their own members called a Pay to Play action taken by Gov. Tim Walz when he appointed two Regents who had not gone through any of the Legislative process and were his personal buddies. (Click here for video of me speaking in favor of this amendment.) Samuel Heins donated over $380,000 to democrats according to Minnesota Campaign Finance reports 2009 – 2025 and of that $30,426.02 directly to the Walz for Governor campaign. Joel Bergstrom is in a relationship with Anne O’Connor and they bought a house together in 2023. Ms. O’Connor ran the Governor’s Office while he was out running for Vice-President and was the third-highest paid person in the Governor’s office at the time. How did this happen? Well, last session House Democrats REFUSED to hold a Joint Legislative Convention to elect four Regents to University of Minnesota, something that has not happened in 20 years. This inaction, allowed the governor to bypass the legislature and hand-pick four Regents. Click here for more I’ve written on this subject. As for good parts of the bill, it creates a new anti-fraud provision so student aid or grant funds can be denied when an applicant provides false information, refuses inspection or information requests, or otherwise commits “ghost student” fraud. There is also $1.5 million added to the budget to help Minnesota State stop ghost students in their huge system through modernization and technology. This bill does not add new direct spending for student aid programs, but it does add ongoing costs elsewhere. New licensing and registration changes are expected to generate about $184,000 per year, which helps offset added administrative costs tied to the oversight, enforcement provisions and anti-fraud technology. Here is a non-partisan article from Session Daily covering passage of this bill. Gandhi removed as DHS head DHS Commissioner Shireen Gandhi was demoted on Monday May 4th, just one day before she was scheduled to appear before the Senate Human Services Committee for a hearing where she would have been asked very difficult questions prior to a full vote on the Senate floor for her potential confirmation. She was DHS’s Chief Compliance Officer who Gov. Walz promoted to Commissioner, despite her being the department since 2017 as fraud spiraled out of control in Minnesota. The timing of Gandhi’s demotion is notable. For the second time in less than a year, a Walz administration official facing tough questions about DHS’s handling of fraud has been removed right before facing tough questions from lawmakers. It’s a clear move by the Governor to avoid accountability, and Minnesotans can see through it. For years, credible allegations of illegal kickbacks tied to the Early Intensive Developmental and Behavioral Intervention (EIDBI) program were brought to the attention of the Walz Administration, which repeatedly refused to investigate, citing incorrectly that “it lacked the authority to act.” I publicly raised this issue with Gandhi during a Fraud Prevention Committee hearing. I asked a straightforward question: if kickbacks are illegal under federal law, and Minnesota programs rely heavily on federal funding, why can’t we stop them here? Commissioner Gandhi responded that the challenge was an inability to effectively prosecute these cases. That is just one glaring example of the agency’s incompetence with her at the helm. Keeping the same staff who have overseen the fraud explosion will only allow the fraud to keep growing unchecked, so it’s good to see she will be replaced. The next DHS leader must take our state’s fraud problem more seriously. Whistleblower testifies  Former Department of Human Services Child Care Assistance Program fraud investigator Jay Swanson delivered some alarming whistleblower testimony Tuesday, April 28th in a MN House Fraud and Oversight Committee meeting. “They would say they first heard about [the scam] in refugee camps in Kenya.” While it was happening in many states, MINNESOTA was the easiest and you could make the most money. Swanson described widespread fraud and a lack of internal accountability at DHS starting in 2017. “We were shocked to learn not only that millions of dollars in theft were tolerated, but that those trying to stop it faced pushback from high-ranking officials,” he said. Swanson also cited DHS actions to stifle investigations, including pressure to change written statements. He resigned in 2019 and testified that much of the fraud could have been prevented if leadership in the Walz administration had acted appropriately. His full testimony is worth watching at this link, starting just after the 23-minute mark. It’s more than a flag  House and Senate Democrats authored a bill (H.F. 5077) that mandates Minnesota cities and counties fly the state’s new flag. The bill would cut state funding for local police and fire services if they dare fly the historic version. We can debate the appearance of the new flag all we want, but the one thing most Minnesotans would agree upon is the citizens of our state (and the legislature) should have had more say in the final decision. Let’s be clear: this issue is about more than piece of fabric. Democrats are forcing local governments into displaying only Democrat-approved flags, levying financial penalties to those who don’t follow their orders. The bill would reduce local government aid (LGA) by 10 percent for entities choosing to display any other flag than the one that became official in 2024. LGA is a key source of state funding that helps communities pay for essential services such as police and fire departments. Champlin, Zumbrota, Elk River and Inver Grove Heights are among a growing number of local governments voting to fly the former flag on public property. |