Economics, Budget, and Fraud News
Inflation continues to grow, government spending knows no limits, fraud and waste go unchecked, and everything costs more - this isn't your imagination.
The DFL THINKS YOUR MONEY IS THEIR MONEY
When will balance be restored?
Spending in government is out of control, oversight and accountability is lacking, and there is no reality check on the decisions being made. What can the people do to stop this madness?
- Be informed - read up on the issues.
- Tell others about what has been going on- the media often skims over the issues.
- Vote for fiscal responsibility up and down the ballot- this impacts our state and local communities.
- Be aware of programs which have been vulnerable to fraud and waste.
- Tell elected officials and candidates how these policies impact you.
According to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Auditor, Judy Randall, to the effect that her reports and recommendations aren’t being taken seriously by the Walz Administration:
“I have seen increasing rejection of our findings and recommendations. Or denial or dismissiveness or excuses,” Randall, who’s worked in the office for 26 years, said in an interview. “There’s definitely a shoot-the-messenger feeling.”
Gov. Walz’ broadband extension will cost $6,753 per household
The simple math indicates $52,000,000 / 7,700 = $6,753. is the cost for this broadband expansion. Nearly $7,000 for every household connected.
Funds spent over and above the amount necessary to connect these homes with something like Starlink is a waste of taxpayer’s hard earned money. Either way, if you were wondering where that $18 billion surplus went, here is another part of the answer.
Minnesota Tax Rates, Collections, and Burdens
How does Minnesota’s tax code compare? Minnesota has a graduated state individual income tax, with rates ranging from 5.35 percent to 9.85 percent. Minnesota has a 9.8 percent corporate income tax rate. Minnesota also has a 6.875 percent state sales tax rate and an average combined state and local sales tax rate of 8.04 percent. Minnesota has a 0.98 percent effective property tax rate on owner-occupied housing value.
Minnesota has an estate tax. Minnesota has a 28.6 cents per gallon gas tax rate and a $3.732 cigarette excise tax rate. The State of Minnesota collects $7,451 in state and local tax collections per capita. Minnesota has $9,980 in state and local debt per capita and has a 75 percent funded ratio of public pension plans. Overall, Minnesota’s tax system ranks 44th on our 2024 State Business Tax Climate Index.
Minnesota is in the 10 lowest-ranked states for business climate.
As fraud scandals erupt in Minnesota on Gov. Tim Walz’s watch, accountability is in short supply
From CNN (Oct 2024) -One state audit found that bonus checks intended for frontline workers during the pandemic were handed out to undeserving recipients. Another criticized a Minnesota state agency for failing to ensure there were no conflicts of interest in taxpayer-funded mental health and addiction programs. A third detailed lax oversight of a program to feed needy kids which federal prosecutors say resulted in the nation’s largest Covid-era fraud scheme.
But when confronted with these and other troubling examples of waste, fraud and abuse, some state agencies working under the administration of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz repeatedly minimized or dismissed the allegations, the state’s nonpartisan auditor, Judy Randall, told CNN.
The troubled light-rail project – whose genesis predates Walz but is currently monitored by 17 Walz appointees – that has suffered from more than $1.5 billion in cost overruns. Randall’s office faulted that agency last year for a lack of transparency about rising costs and failure to ensure contractors’ ballooning price tags were justified. Others found holes in safeguards to waste or raised more targeted conflict-of-interest concerns, such as a state Department of Public Safety employee who received payments from the recipient of a grant that the employee oversees.
Scandal Tracker 2024
This tracker showing almost $500 Million in stolen money is compiled by Bill Glahn at the Center for the American Experiment. This will be an ongoing effort to track the ever-growing list of frauds perpetrated against state and local governments in Minnesota.
There are many examples of Minnesotans defrauding the Federal government directly (PPP, small business loans, etc.). These cases are not included in the current tracker.
The Feeding Our Future estimate is the one provided by the U.S. Dept. of Justice almost two years ago.
MN AG lawsuit costs
Republican legislative leaders in Minnesota are continuing to press Attorney General Keith Ellison for more answers on his office’s use of a San Francisco-based law firm in its “climate deception” lawsuit against the oil industry.
The attorney’s fees from the state that “could amount to "hundreds of millions of dollars” in the lawsuit, which has been ongoing for four years. In June 2020 Ellison’s office filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, American Petroleum Institute and a handful of Koch Industries entities alleging they are “major actors” in contributing to climate change.
5 defendants in Medicaid fraud cases totaling $10M
Five people have been charged in connection with two investigations of Medicaid fraud totaling more than $10 million in ill-gotten public funds. In one case, two people are charged in connection with defrauding the Medicaid program of more than $7.2 million through Promise Health Services, LLC, a home services agency that had no physical office and operated out of a mailbox at a Minneapolis address.
More than a dozen autism centers under fraud investigation by the FBI
Minnesota Frontline Worker Program Fraud
The Office of the Legislative Auditor, a non partisan watchdog office conducted a review and found several woefully lacking controls that led to people getting money that shouldn’t have. The departments of Labor and Industry and Revenue approved frontline worker payments to applicants who were not eligible and to applicants whose eligibility we could not determine.
Office of the Legislative Auditor - Financial Audit Division Report
Feeding our Future
The latest 41 counts in the indictment and seven defendants, the jury had to render 64 separate unanimous verdicts.
The incident made international news when it was revealed that a mysterious woman dropped off a gift bag containing $120,000 in cash at the home of juror #52 in the first Feeding Our Future trial. The woman promised more cash to come if the juror voted to acquit. Instead, the juror called 9-1-1.
U.S. Attorney Announces Federal Charges Against 10 Additional Defendants in $250 Million Feeding Our Future Fraud
MINNEAPOLIS – The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota today announced federal criminal charges against 10 additional defendants for their alleged roles in the fraud scheme that exploited a federally-funded child nutrition program during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Paid Leave Mandate
Minnesota’s new paid family and medical leave program would require a 25% higher payroll tax when it launches in 2026 than originally anticipated. Employees will pay up to half of the payroll tax — 0.44% of their taxable wages in the first year, rather than the previous 0.35%.
Retail Delivery Fee
Starting July 1, 2024, there will be a Retail Delivery Fee of 50 cents that applies to certain transactions involving retail delivery in Minnesota. The Retail Delivery Fee is not refundable if any or all items purchased are returned to a retailer or if the retailer provides a refund or credit in the amount equal to or less than the purchase price.
State Budget Balance
$6 billion passed in the 2023 legislative session, spending on welfare programs such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and childcare is slated to grow by $14 billion during the next four years. In that period, $42 of every $100 in new general fund spending will be allocated to health and human services.
HHS spending as a share of general funds grew 23 percent between 2000 and 2019, surpassing all other major state spending categories.
“If left unaddressed, Minnesota’s welfare system is a fiscal time bomb.”
