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Counties and providers urge investment in aging state systems (SSIS, MAXIS) to reduce costs and delays
Summary
County staff and administrators told the House Health and Human Services Finance Policy Committee that outdated IT systems — including SSIS and MAXIS — slow eligibility determination, duplicate documentation, and increase staffing costs, and they urged the legislature to prioritize modernization rather than shift program costs to counties.
County and provider witnesses at the Feb. 11 House Health and Human Services Finance Policy Committee hearing said outdated state information systems are a major driver of administrative cost and staff strain, and they urged lawmakers to prioritize modernization investments.
"We do use SSIS. We also use MAXIS and MMIS," Katie Molinaire, deputy director of Ramsey County Social Services, told the committee when Representative Keeler asked whether technology could improve efficiencies. She said newer tools such as MN Choices have produced "some efficiencies" but did not eliminate the need to document work in SSIS, which she described as "old" and prone to slowdowns and crashes.
Multiple county witnesses expanded on that point. "The main system that drives everything is MAXIS... it's a 40-year-old system," Representative Knorr quoted from testimony during the hearing, and Pine County Administrator David Minkie and Sherburne County Administrator Bruce Messelt encouraged legislators to inspect systems firsthand. Matt Hilgert of the Association of Minnesota Counties said that repeated manual data entry and frequent crashes create both human tolls on caseworkers and recurring workforce challenges, increasing county payroll needs.
Witnesses described specific consequences: longer waits for MNChoices assessments (the state’s functional needs assessment), stalled Medical Assistance (MA) enrollments, and delays in disability determinations from the Social Security Administration that together extend the time before waiver services can begin. Molinaire said Ramsey County saw a 40% increase in MNChoices assessments from 2017 to 2023, which strained staffing capacity and caused wait times for residents.
Several speakers urged a coordinated, statewide approach to modernize core systems (SSIS, MAXIS, MMIS) rather than piecemeal fixes focused on a single software. "If we invest in terms of addressing that it's a 40-year-old system... we should start with the systems," Representative Knorr said, summarizing testimony that systems reform could reduce duplication, speed eligibility determinations, and lower long-term costs for counties and providers.
No committee action was taken during the hearing; witnesses asked lawmakers to consider funding technical modernization as part of budget deliberations to reduce administrative waste and workforce turnover.
