As I’ve mentioned before (here and here), the incoming Republican majority of the state House of Representatives held a press conference at the capitol yesterday to present their 2025 legislative priorities. The session begins on Tuesday, January 14.
Incoming Speaker Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) announced that “stop the fraud” against state welfare programs is the majority’s No. 1 item. They even have a graphic:
Session Daily reports:
Demuth also announced that Republicans intend to create a new House committee focused on fraud and oversight in state agencies. The committee is expected to be chaired by Rep. Kristin Robbins (R-Maple Grove) and have subpoena power.
Rep. Robbins will be starting her 4th term in the House and is expected to serve also on the Ways and Means, Higher Education, and Tax committees.
We have one item to suggest to Rep. Robbins: empowering the elected position of State Auditor to go after state-level fraud. As a separately-elected official, the State Auditor is not beholden to the sitting Governor, as other executive branch officials would be.
Fingers crossed that the new House committee gets off the ground this winter. If it does, we’ll be monitoring its progress.