by Sen. Paul Utke

State Representative

As a new year begins, so approaches another legislative session. Some folks may not know, but in each biennium we have a budget year and a bonding year­—last year was a budget year, meant for setting the state budget and this year is a bonding year, during which the legislature’s main focus will be putting together a bonding bill. Aside from the bonding bill, I also have three priorities I would like to see addressed or discussed in some capacity: fraud, healthcare and health insurance costs, and the upcoming budget deficit.

As we all know, under Democrat leadership, fraud has been incredibly pervasive in our state. In fact, due to how opaque the Walz Administration and his commissioners have been, it’s possible we never would have known the depth of the fraud had it not been for the U.S. Attorney stepping in to investigate. As of right now, they assume our state’s fraud to be hovering around $9 billion, but frankly, I wouldn’t be surprised if that number was higher. Republicans have been sounding the alarm on the fraud long before it was uncovered— many things weren’t adding up and oversight measures were clearly being ignored. When we tried to dig, a previous Department of Human Services (DHS) Commissioner claimed Minnesota didn’t have a fraud problem, which is ironic considering much of the fraud we’ve found has been in DHS-run programs. The fact that none of our commissioners have been able to admit that we have a fraud problem is very telling.

To combat this fraud, there are many potential solutions we must consider. We previously discussed a bill to implement an independent Office of Inspector General (OIG) that would be focused on stopping fraud before it begins and would operate independently of state agencies so there would not be a conflict of interest. Though that bill passed in the Senate last year (with bipartisan support, mind you), Democrats in the House stopped it from passing. I’d like to see that bill revisited. We should also give the Office of Legislative Auditor (OLA) reports some teeth. Right now, the OLA will investigate agencies and programs and provide findings to make those entities more efficient and compliant with state law, but oftentimes, those recommendations are not followed and there are no repercussions—we must change that. We should also reinstate legislative confirmation of commissioners. Many of our commissioners have deliberately hidden the goings on of their agencies, and that doesn’t instill confidence from legislators or the public. Yet if we can’t hold them accountable, none of that matters. These will be a few avenues we’ll explore to address fraud.

Another area I want to focus on is healthcare and insurance costs, which are through the roof due to democrats increasing fees and taxes and passing mandates onto the health plans. Every family in this state deserves high quality health care that is accessible and affordable, and that means passing legislation that increases access, gives providers more flexibility, and increases options for families seeking care. We need to do things like expand patient cost transparency, provide support for our hospitals and make it easier for them to meet local needs by increasing beds and modifying contracts, and expand options of insurers or providers. This is a tall order, but as the Health and Human Services Republican lead, you can expect me to bring these issues up frequently.

Finally, the budget deficit…we can’t keep ignoring what we know to be true: Minnesota is headed towards a deficit due to the runaway spending by Democrats. Though we have a small surplus for 2026-27, Minnesota is heading towards a $5.4 billion deficit in 2028-29 if nothing changes. Democrats spent away a $19 billion surplus, but failed to do so in a way that creates financial returns to drive our state’s economy. Now, we’re in a tough spot as spending continues to outpace revenue. Unfortunately, the proposed solution from the Walz Administration was to shift costs onto counties. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: a move like that would just take the burden off the state government—it would amount to no relief for you. If the state government “cuts” spending by shifting taxes, you will still be paying those taxes at a local level. This is not a real solution.

While the above are my three top issues, we’ll need to focus on other areas such as education, lowering mandates, addressing property taxes, and safety. We have a lot of work ahead of us this year, and I’m committed to working on behalf of our part of the state. As always, please reach out to my office if you have any questions or concerns throughout the legislative session at Sen.Paul.Utke@MNSenate.gov.