Lawmakers in the Minnesota House of Representatives passed a landmark bill that would create an independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) to investigate fraud in state government agencies and programs.
That bill, SF 856, has been in the works for two years and is the most significant piece of anti-fraud legislation moving through the legislature. Now, the bill will go to the Minnesota Senate where it is expected to pass.
Under SF 856, an OIG would be established within Minnesota’s executive branch. Tasked with rooting out fraud in state government, the inspector general would be appointed by the governor “with confirmation by a vote of three-fifths of the [Minnesota Senate].”
That inspector general’s term would last for five years, but additional terms can be granted by another three-fifths vote of the Senate. SF 856 says the inspector general can only be fired by the governor after a public hearing and with approval of the House and Senate.
SF 856 requires the OIG to be nonpartisan and gives it authority to investigate agencies and programs within state government. One of the most prominent features of the OIG is a law enforcement division with the power to make fraud-related arrests.
The language of the OIG bill notes that “the inspector general is not subject to direction or interference from any executive or legislative authority, except as directed by enacted law.”
On Thursday afternoon, the House passed SF 856 in a 127-5 vote; all five “no” votes were Democrats. Two other House Democrats, Aisha Gomez and Mohamud Noor of Minneapolis, did not vote on the bill.
SF 856 was put together over a period of two years by a bipartisan working group. The primary lawmakers in that group were DFL Sen. Heather Gustafson, GOP Sen. Michael Kreun, DFL Rep. Matt Norris, and GOP Rep. Patti Anderson.
Since 2025, that group has worked to assemble a bill that would be supported by all four caucuses in the Minnesota Legislature. Near the end of the 2025 legislative session, the Senate actually passed an earlier version of SF 856 in a 60-7 vote.
However, the House never took up SF 856 for a vote that year. This year, the OIG bill has been the source of significant drama. A few months ago, the DFL tried to remove the law enforcement division from SF 856, and Republicans said the DFL was trying to gut the bill.
In fact, Thursday’s floor session featured a last-ditch effort by Democrats to once again remove the law enforcement division from the bill.
That effort was led by DFL Rep. Kelly Moller who offered an amendment to remove the law enforcement division. Moller argued that the law enforcement division was duplicative of work done by the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).
House Republican Floor Leader Harry Niska said the DFL was trying to gut the OIG bill. He also said Minnesotans have “billions and billions” of reasons not to trust the current law enforcement structure to deal with fraud.
Speaking on the House floor, Anderson urged lawmakers to reject Moller’s amendment as well as other DFL amendments that were offered. Anderson said those amendments would alter the agreed-upon bill that was authored by the bipartisan working group.
While Moller’s amendment was defeated, nearly the entire House DFL Caucus voted for it.
When discussion turned to final passage of the bill, lawmakers from both parties thanked Norris, Anderson, and members of the working group for their efforts on the OIG bill.
In her comments, Anderson said the fraud that has occurred in Minnesota would not have been tolerated by Republican or Democrat administrations of the past. Anderson, who is retiring this year, said the OIG bill is “bipartisan” and “amazing, good work.”
Norris, the chief author of the OIG bill in the House, thanked all those who worked on assembling SF 856. In his remarks, Norris said “[the OIG] represents an unprecedented amount of fraud fighting power in our state. Fraud has no place in Minnesota.”
At the beginning of this biennium, House Republicans made the OIG bill their top legislative priority. As such, passage of SF 856 in the House is a major achievement for Republicans who share the House with Democrats in a 67-67 tie.
“[This OIG bill] sends a message to every state agency and every would-be criminal in our state: The era of looking the other way on fraud is over,” Niska said Thursday on the floor.
Following passage of the OIG bill in the House, it will now go to the Senate for a final vote.
In a statement released Thursday afternoon, Kreun said, “I’m glad [the OIG bill] is closer than ever to becoming law. I’m confident the Senate will approve the changes in the bill, and hopeful that Governor Tim Walz will honor his word to sign the bill.”
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.
