Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives attempted to pass a pair of bills on Monday afternoon designed to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse in state government. One bill passed unanimously, and the other was defeated after not one Democrat voted in favor of its passage.
Over the last several weeks, tackling fraud has become a major theme during this year’s legislative session. Republicans have been particularly vocal about their desire to stop waste, fraud, and abuse in the wake of the Feeding Our Future scheme, Medicaid fraud, and other situations.
At the beginning of the 2025 session, Republicans introduced multiple high-priority bills on this front. Additionally, a new GOP-controlled committee called the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy Committee was established under an agreement between the House GOP and the House DFL.
On Monday, the full House voted on two Republican anti-fraud bills.
The first bill, HF 3, would require the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) to write an annual report which documents how effectively state government agencies implement recommendations from the OLA. The bill’s author, Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, told a room of gathered press that the OLA supports his bill and even helped draft the bill’s language.
Nash said the aim of the bill is to “provide greater information and a greater assessment of internal control compliance with departments and agencies.”
The OLA, which routinely audits various government agencies and programs, often makes recommendations to state agencies on preventing waste, fraud, and abuse. The Nash bill would provide more funding to the OLA, allowing for the agency to report on how their recommendations are being implemented.
The second bill, HF 23, would prevent state and local government from retaliating against public employees who report suspected waste, fraud, or abuse in good faith. Authored by Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, HF 23 expands Minnesota’s whistleblower protections statute.
“The people who work in state government are working really hard and they see these problems, and they want to fix it, they want to be partners in solving some of the waste, fraud, and abuse that’s out there,” said Robbins.
Currently, state law protects some state employees when they report suspected issues to legislators, a constitutional officer, or the OLA. Robbins’ bill would expand the whistleblower protections to include all state employees and protect employees who report concerns to law enforcement, a governmental body, or their employer.
On the House floor, Republicans said the provisions in Nash’s HF 3 would help policymakers make more informed decisions, create a new tool to track OLA recommendations, increase oversight, and restore taxpayer trust.
Describing the bill as “not the worst idea in the world,” Rep. Zack Stephenson, DFL-Coon Rapids, warned that the bill has fiscal costs, a state budget agreement has not yet been reached, and balancing the budget this year would be difficult.
In turn, the DFLer recommended a “no” vote on the bill but suggested that HF 3 could be a part of a larger state government bill rather than a “one-off.”
Another DFLer, Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, argued that the bill was unnecessary because lawmakers could already go through existing OLA reports and follow up with the agencies about how well OLA recommendations have been implemented.
Ultimately, HF 3 did not pass. When the votes were being taken on HF 3, 67 Republicans voted for the bill and 66 DFLers voted against it. Legislation in the House requires at least 68 votes for final passage. At present, there are 67 Republicans, 66 Democrats, and one vacancy in the 134-member chamber.
After it became apparent that HF 3 would not achieve the 68 votes required for passage, Majority Leader Harry Niska, R-Ramsey, changed his vote from “aye” to “nay.” This meant that HF 3 failed on a 66-67 vote.
Similar situations have occurred throughout the legislative session.
A spokesperson from the House Republican Caucus has previously explained to Alpha News that Niska changed his vote on another bill in order to make a motion to reconsider, which requires a member to be on the prevailing side of the prior vote.
After changing his vote on Monday, Niska made a motion to reconsider HF 3. That motion passed in a partisan 67-66 vote, and the bill was subsequently “laid on the table,” meaning it can be taken up again at any time for a second vote.
“Democrats had a chance to crack down on fraud and protect Minnesota taxpayers, and they chose to block it,” said Nash following the House vote. “This bill would have saved millions by identifying vulnerabilities before waste and abuse could occur. Instead, Democrats put politics over common sense and blocked a proven way to stop waste, fraud, and abuse in state government.”
Meanwhile, the bill expanding whistleblower protections passed in a unanimous, bipartisan vote of 133-0. Regarding the passage of her bill, Robbins said she is “grateful for the unanimous support of the House on this bill.”
“This bill is about protecting state workers and ensuring that integrity prevails in our state agencies,” added Robbins. “By strengthening whistleblower protections, we are taking an important step to prevent fraud before it happens and hold bad actors accountable.”
In order to become law, Robbins’ HF 3 will need to be passed by the Minnesota Senate and signed into law by the 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.
