Minnesotans have long prided themselves on looking out for our neighbors and lending a helping hand. This good nature of ours has long extended to Minnesota’s safety net programs. But these programs are based on a fundamental idea that we live in a high trust society—that our laws and institutions are built on the premise that those needing help will only take what they need, and those administering the help will be good stewards of our hard-earned tax dollars. Neither is happening. The trust is gone, and I fear >so too will our good nature.

Federal officials have stated that fraudsters have “stolen billions of dollars in taxpayer money.”

Let that sink in: More than $2 billion in public funds may have been stolen from the people of Minnesota.

This includes the infamous $250 million Feeding Our Future scandal and the more recent $300 million in suspected Medicaid housing fraud, involving over 1,000 providers now under investigation.

And yet, no one has been fired. No systems have been overhauled. No one that rubber stamped these funds has been held accountable.

When I ran for State Auditor in 2022, I warned this exact kind of abuse would continue if we didn't act. I called for stronger oversight of nonprofits, real-time auditing, and automatic referrals to the Attorney General when fraud was suspected.

In a commentary I wrote for the Star Tribune during that campaign, I said: “My plan to oversee nonprofits and other entities that receive government funding … will ensure money is being used for intended programs and not wasted or stolen, and that suspected fraud by nonprofits is swiftly referred to the Office of the Attorney General.” (Star Tribune, October 25, 2022) Sadly, that warning wasn’t taken seriously, and today, we’re watching the cost of inaction play out in real time.

And this is not just a failure at the state level. These fraudsters take advantage of our schools, our cities, and our counties.

The fraudsters aren’t stealing our money in the dark of night. They walk in the front door – many times enticed to come in - they sit down with the people handing out funds and walk out the door with a new contract in hand. No one is vetting, no one is asking hard questions, and no one is caring. Instead, government entities continued to fund questionable organization, sometimes despite obvious red flags. In multiple cases, individuals already under investigation for fraud were still allowed to contract with other local governments.

This must end.

We need a whole government solution, from the top down. We need statewide standards that apply to all levels of government, from school districts to state agencies. Here are a few basic standards I propose:

If you’re under investigation for fraud, you must be stopped from continuing to defraud Minnesotans — you should be ineligible for any new contracts at any level of government and payments under existing contracts are automatically halted.

If you’re a government employee signing off on public funds, you must be able to show due diligence or be held responsible, including losing your job.

If you’re an executive branch official, your agencies must come under the scrutiny of an independent Office of Inspector General as was proposed in the Minnesota House of Representatives this session.

Let’s be clear: Fraud like this doesn’t happen because criminals are smarter than us. It happens because our systems are too easy to manipulate — and elected officials don’t do enough to prevent or stop the fraud.

Minnesota’s social programs were created because we believe in helping people. But when we allow fraud to go unchecked, it undermines those very programs.

Every dollar stolen is a service denied. A child unfed. A family unhoused. A

person in a mental health crisis left unaided.

This isn’t just bad government. It’s a betrayal of public trust.

It’s time for Minnesota officials to step up. It’s time for real oversight.

And most of all, it’s time for someone to be held accountable.

Editor’s Note: The Schumer Shutdown is here. Rather than put the American people first, Chuck Schumer and the radical Democrats forced a government shutdown for healthcare for illegals. They own this.

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