ST. PAUL, MN—Rep. Mary Franson, R-Alexandria, joined a letter sent Tuesday signed by all 55 members of the House Republican Caucus to House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, requesting hearings on the ongoing turmoil at DHS during the upcoming "mini-session" scheduled for October 2-4 in Winona, Minnesota. Hortman announced the mini-session dates in an email to legislators last Thursday.
"Minnesota's largest agency is in chaos, and Democrats have so far refused to hold hearings and demand answers that Minnesotans deserve," Franson said. "This agency is responsible for billions in spending, and has been under fire for their failure to stop millions in fraud in our public programs. There's no excuse for Democrats not to hold hearings and conduct basic oversight on behalf of taxpayers."
Earlier this month, top Republicans on the various committees overseeing DHS wrote to DFL Chairs Tina Liebling, DFL-Rochester, Rena Moran, DFL-St. Paul, and Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul, calling for hearings. Those requests have thus far been ignored.
Newspaper editorial boards have called for transparency and clarity on the turmoil that led to the resignation of top officials, and the abrupt departure of former Commissioner Lourey after just six months on the job. The Fairmont Sentinel said in an editorial earlier this month that “Nobody is offering much in the way of real explanations as to what is going on. So Gov. Walz has some explaining to do. It’s time for some answers.” The Duluth News Tribune echoed those sentiments, saying “Minnesota taxpayers want to know just what’s going on. We deserve to know. We have a right to know.”
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