Minnesota Office of Inspector General Bill Advances to Governor’s Desk

(KNSI) — A landmark bill aimed at fighting fraud within Minnesota’s safety net programs is headed to the governor’s desk after unanimously passing the Senate on Monday.

The House passed the bill last week, 127-5, clearing the way for final Senate action.

It creates a new independent watchdog agency with sweeping authority to investigate fraud and establishes a Legislative Inspector General Advisory Commission to select candidates to lead the agency in an effort to keep it free from political influence.

The eight-member commission will include two Republican and two Democratic members from both the House and Senate. A candidate must earn approval from five of the eight commissioners to receive a recommendation. The governor would then appoint one of the approved candidates, and a three-fifths vote in the Senate would be required to confirm the nominee for a five-year term.

The office would be fully operational by September 1st, 2027, at a cost of $7.29 million in Fiscal Year 2027, before a combined $23.01 million would be needed in the 2028-29 biennium.

Starting January 1st, 2028, the office would have the authority to appoint licensed police officers and to establish a law enforcement agency, the Inspector General Anti-Fraud and Waste Bureau, to conduct statewide investigations and make arrests. Until then, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension’s Financial Crimes and Fraud Section will handle fraud investigations.

The Senate passed the bill on May 8th, 2025, but it stalled in the House over disagreements about the law enforcement provisions. Senator Aric Putnam (DFL-St. Cloud) and co-author of the legislation said he is “grateful that the House has finally agreed that Minnesotans deserve this protection. This is a historic step toward securing Minnesota’s taxpayer dollars from fraud. A 66-0 vote says everything about the strength of this coalition and the urgency of stopping fraud against Minnesotans. I want to thank Senator Heather Gustafson for her leadership, which has been a model of how to build real, durable bipartisan consensus. I look forward to seeing the Governor sign this into law.”

___