歪歪漫画

ST. PAUL 鈥� A new report from the Office of the Legislative Auditor concluded that the Minnesota Department of Education failed to properly oversee a food program that led to rampant fraud and dozens of people charged in federal court.

The OLA's report focused on MDE's lack of oversight over the Twin Cities nonprofit Feeding our Future, saying that the department knew of red flags years before federal charges were brought against 70 people involved in an alleged $250 million fraud.

"We found MDE鈥檚 oversight of Feeding Our Future to be inadequate," Legislative Auditor Judy Randall and Special Reviews Director Katherine Theisen wrote in their report. "In fact, we believe MDE鈥檚 actions and inactions created opportunities for fraud."

Earlier this month, five of seven defendants in the first trial regarding a federal investigation into the nonprofit and the FBI is investigating a possible plan to

Among the OLA's findings:

• MDE failed to act on warning signs known to the department prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• MDE did not effectively exercise its authority to hold Feeding Our Future accountable to program requirements.
• MDE was ill-prepared to respond to the issues it encountered with Feeding Our Future.

During a Thursday hearing before the Legislative Audit Commission, MDE Commissioner Willie Jett declined to place blame for the lack of oversight when questioned by Rep Duane Quam, R-Byron.

"The level of fraud here was unprecedented," MDE Commissioner Willie Jett told the commission Thursday, adding that the department made effective referrals to law enforcement and has taken steps to ensure this type of fraud does not happen again.

MDE stopped approving applications for Feeding Our Future in 2020 after noticing red flags with the nonprofit's reporting procedures but .

"Part of running an organization is actually making sure that you have competent people doing it and one way to drive that is to actually discipline people," Quam said.

Thursday's report comes on the heels of another damning report by the Legislative Auditor, which found about $205 million in unverified payments to people through a Frontline Worker Pay bonuses program in 2023.

Republicans have attacked the state's DFL leadership this week for failing to stop millions of allegedly fraudulent dollars from being spent through these programs.

鈥淚n 2022, Senate Republicans held three hearings to get to the bottom of the Feeding our Future scheme that was rocking headlines and eroding the trust of Minnesotans,鈥� Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, R-East Grand Forks, said in a written statement. 鈥淭oday, the OLA report demonstrates we are completely vindicated with our concerns and assessment that MDE failed to do even the most basic of accountability measures to protect taxpayers鈥� dollars and ensure food meant to feed children reached the children who needed it.鈥�

The OLA's office made the following recommendations in its report:

• The Legislature should either establish criteria in statute or give MDE the authority to conduct rulemaking to establish application criteria
• MDE should:
  
  • Take additional steps to verify information sponsors provide
  • Place a greater emphasis on program integrity and risk-based monitoring if oversight requirements are waived again in the future
  • Revise its complaint investigation procedures
  • Prioritize independent fact-finding
  • Limit information it shares with the subject of a complaint
  • Evaluate recent statutory changes related to its investigative authority

However, Republicans have gone further by placing blame on Gov. Tim Walz's administration.

鈥淣othing changes, if nothing changes,鈥� Johnson said. 鈥淓ither Gov. Walz starts to hold his politically appointed commissioners and their staff accountable, or the waste, fraud, and abuse of the taxpayers鈥� dollars will continue. In the meantime, government spending will go up, services will be wasted, and Minnesotans will be left wondering just whether or not the high taxes they pay are being put to their best use.鈥�