Minnesota Government Accountability & Fraud Elimination
Purpose:
To protect taxpayer dollars, restore public trust, and ensure public funds are used as intended by strengthening oversight, transparency, and enforcement across Minnesota state government.
Problem Statement
Minnesota administers tens of billions of dollars annually through state agencies, contractors, and nonprofit partners. Fragmented oversight, inconsistent internal controls, limited transparency, and weak enforcement have allowed waste, fraud, and abuse to go undetected or unaddressed. Existing audits often identify problems without timely corrective action or consequences.
Policy Goals
- Prevent fraud before funds are disbursed
- Detect fraud earlier and at scale
- Enforce meaningful consequences
- Increase transparency and public confidence
- Ensure accountability at every level of government
Key Provisions
1. Independent Office of Program Integrity (OPI)
- Establish an independent Office of Program Integrity reporting to the Legislature.
- Consolidates fraud detection, investigation, and prevention across agencies.
- Authority to audit, investigate, suspend payments, and refer cases for prosecution.
2. Stronger Audit & Oversight Powers
- Expand the Legislative Auditor’s authority, including subpoena power for contractors and nonprofits receiving public funds.
- Require agency responses to audit findings within 60 days.
- Mandate public corrective-action reports every six months until resolved.
3. Real-Time Spending Transparency
- Create a public, searchable online portal for all state payments over $1,000.
- Display vendor name, program purpose, contract value, and performance measures.
4. Uniform Internal Controls & Risk Management
- Require standardized fraud prevention controls across all agencies.
- Mandatory biennial fraud risk assessments with public reporting.
- Agency heads must certify compliance under penalty of perjury.
5. Contractor & Nonprofit Accountability
- Implement vendor pre-qualification and fraud risk scoring.
- Expand performance-based contracting and require clawback provisions.
- Permanently bar entities found guilty of fraud from future state contracts.
6. Modern Fraud Detection Tools
- Deploy advanced data analytics and cross-agency data matching to detect anomalies, duplicate payments, and false claims.
- Require secure data sharing between relevant state agencies.
7. Whistleblower Protections & Incentives
- Expand whistleblower protections to contractors and nonprofit employees.
- Allow anonymous reporting with strong anti-retaliation enforcement.
- Provide financial incentives for substantiated fraud recoveries.
8. Enforcement & Consequences
- Establish a dedicated public-funds fraud unit within the Attorney General’s Office.
- Fast-track prosecution of state fraud cases.
- Require restitution, penalties, and public disclosure of violations.
Expected Outcomes
- Reduced fraud, waste, and abuse
- Faster detection and recovery of misused funds
- Clear accountability for agencies and contractors
- Increased public trust in state government
Fiscal Impact:
Initial administrative costs offset by recovered funds, prevented losses, and long-term efficiency gains.