Rep. Davis moves bill to require state employees to report suspected fraud, tighten grant oversight

Representative Davis moved House File 2 before a House committee, presenting a bill that would require state agency employees to immediately report suspected fraud to law enforcement and to the chairs and ranking minority members of the House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over the agency’s operating budget, the bill’s author said.

The bill, described by Davis as mandatory fraud-reporting and oversight legislation, would also require agency organizational charts and divisional director contact information to be posted online; mandate unannounced, in-person site visits of grant recipients to verify work and financial stability; strengthen grantee obligations; and require each grant agreement to provide that the agreement be immediately suspended if the recipient is charged with a criminal offense and terminated if convicted.

House File 2’s author said the measure is a response to recent fraud scandals and to what she characterized as repeated agency failures to follow legislative auditor recommendations. “There was a time when Minnesota … was known for being a quiet state, responsible in government, accountable in our agencies,” Representative Davis said. “Those days are gone since Governor Walz has…