Legislative Auditor Issues Scathing Report Over Misuse of Frontline Worker Pay Funds

(KNSI) — A new report by the Office of the Legislative Auditor raises concerns about the Frontline Worker Pay Program.

The report found significant problems with verifying applicants and ensuring they met program requirements. The OLA discovered that the Department of Labor and Industry, which was tasked with overseeing and implementing the program, didn’t comply with the requirements. Forty-one percent of applicants couldn’t be verified, and ineligible applicants received payments anyway. State agencies, including the Department of Revenue and Minnesota Information Technology Services, didn’t follow best practices to prevent fraud.

According to House Minority Leader Representative Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring), House Republicans warned about these issues during the program’s passage and proposed measures to prevent fraud, but those were rejected.

She believes this lack of oversight led to less money for legitimate frontline workers and is calling for accountability from the Walz Administration.

In 2022, after much wrangling over who should get the checks and how much they would get, $500 million was paid to 1,025,649 workers in 15 frontline sectors who had to work through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. Each check was to be at least $750, up to $1,500, depending on the number of applicants. By the time the application window closed, 1.2 million submissions had been turned in, which was twice as many as anticipated. Eighty-five percent of those were eligible, and 15% were denied or the application was withdrawn.

In the end, more than one million Frontline Worker Pay applicants were approved to receive a check for $487.45.

The Departments of Revenue, Employment and Economic Development, Labor and Industry, and Minnesota Technology Information Services were all scolded in the audit’s conclusions.

The DLI didn’t comply with program requirements, the DOR didn’t verify adjusted gross income for applicants, DLI and MNIT didn’t comply with the state’s Official Records Act and DEED didn’t comply with program requirements.

The requirements called for employees to be employed for at least 120 hours in a frontline sector, be in person and in close proximity to others, meet adjusted gross income requirements, and meet unemployment insurance requirements.

To see sample and targeted testing results and the remainder of the report, click here.

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