At a Sunday press conference, DFL gubernatorial candidate Amy Klobuchar unveiled her plan to fight fraud in Minnesota state government. That press event was Klobuchar’s first major campaign event since she announced her candidacy in January.
According to her plan, Klobuchar wants to audit state agencies, empower agencies to shut down payments when they detect suspicious activity, ban convicted fraudsters from ever receiving state grants or contracts, and require unannounced site visits of providers.
Further, Klobuchar wants to modernize the state agency’s IT systems with bonding funds to track program payments, review state programs on an ongoing basis, and create a much-discussed independent office of the inspector general.
Documents published by the Klobuchar campaign note that many of her proposals come from existing GOP and DFL bills pending before the Minnesota Legislature.
Alongside her anti-fraud plan, Klobuchar introduced proposals to streamline government efficiency and access. However, fraud in state government programs is poised to be one of the most talked-about issues during the upcoming gubernatorial campaign.
“Minnesotans are right to have high expectations,” Klobuchar said at her event. “They have deadlines that they meet every day, so should our government. They plan and prioritize for their families, so should our government. They see something that isn’t working and they fix it, so should our government.”
Following that press conference, Minnesota Republicans were quick to slam Klobuchar and Democratic leadership in the state.
Republican gubernatorial candidate and House speaker Lisa Demuth criticized Klobuchar for “wait[ing] three months to hold her first campaign press conference” before adding that Klobuchar represents “a Walz Third Term.”
“Plain and simple: four terms of Democrat control of the executive branch have doubled our state budget, raised taxes by billions and enabled a culture of fraud that has stolen billions more,” Demuth added. “Amy Klobuchar wants to triple down on the Walz Era.”
Alex Plechash, the chairman of the Minnesota GOP, released a lengthy statement which said “Amy Klobuchar’s plan is not innovation. It is an admission of failure.”
“This plan reads like an indictment of Democrat governance in Minnesota,” Plechash added. “If state government is too slow, too outdated, too expensive, too vulnerable to fraud, too hostile to small businesses, too difficult to navigate, and too broken to serve taxpayers, then Amy Klobuchar should say who broke it.”
Since announcing her campaign in January, Klobuchar has all but become the DFL nominee for governor. She has no major primary challengers and has raised more money than all of her prospective Republican opponents combined.
Serving in her fourth-term as a U.S. senator, Klobuchar previously was elected Hennepin County Attorney and has been in public office since 1999.
The Republican candidates for governor include state Rep. Peggy Bennett, House Speaker Lisa Demuth, former CEO Patrick Knight, MyPillow founder Mike Lindell, retired Navy intelligence officer Phillip Parish, and businessman Kendall Qualls.
Later this month, Republicans will gather at their state convention in Duluth to endorse a candidate for governor.
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
