How much fraud is happening in Minnesota? We need to know. | Opinion

For years, I’ve watched with dismay as my home state of Minnesota has repeatedly made national headlines, and for negative reasons. From the destructive riots after George Floyd’s murder in 2020 to Gov. Tim Walz’s 2024 failed vice presidential run and now investigations into alleged fraud in taxpayer-funded food, housing and childcare programs.

The fraud allegations raise important questions and require investigations that should have bipartisan support.

If fraud, at the cost of the local taxpayer, is rampant in Minnesota, it must be rooted out and exposed. Minnesota taxpayers deserve to know where their money is going.

How much fraud exists in Minnesota? The investigations are important.

The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security began directing resources into Minnesota to investigate more allegations of fraud, this time about childcare centers.

This comes after Nick Shirley, a viral YouTuber with nearly 1.3 million subscribers, started making videos alleging a massive fraud scheme at day care centers. Shirley's videos caught the attention of the Trump administration. He participated in a roundtable on investigative journalism with President Donald Trump in October.

In Shirley's Dec. 26 video, he attempted to question several childcare centers in Minnesota, and alleged that they were not operational, which would be a problem because they receive government funding through the state’s Child Care Assistance Program, which provides funds for low-income families.

CBS News reviewed Shirley's video and began its own research about some of the centers he mentioned. So far, its reports find no evidence of fraud. However, its journalists also tried to reach the centers and, as of Dec. 29, had received no response.

I think it's good to fact-check Shirley, but this is nowhere near the first time allegations and prosecutions of social services fraud have come up in Minnesota.

'We've known in Minnesota about the day care fraud'

Minnesota Republican Rep. Tom Emmer pointed this out in an interview with Fox News, saying, "We've known in Minnesota about the day care fraud for a decade."

Twin Cities-based Fox 9 reported that while Minnesota's fraud allegations are just now making national news, its journalists have been investigating the accusations for more than a decade, dating to 2013.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Minnesota charged a childcare center provider in 2017 with wire fraud and theft of public money. In 2016, two executives with a Minneapolis childcare facility were charged with overbilling the state by at least $103,527, according to the Hennepin County Attorney's Office.

MPR News reported in 2018 that Chuck Johnson, then-acting commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services, had opened a childcare fraud unit and credited the Office of the Legislative Auditor for "the closure of 13 childcare centers, six felony convictions and court orders for more than $4.6 million in restitution."

Childcare center fraud allegations were so rampant in Minnesota that, in 2019, the Office of the Legislative Auditor published findings from an investigation, saying it found evidence that fraud did occur. It also found that the state's Department of Human Services lacked sufficient systems to detect and deter fraud.

Walz knew about the suspected fraud, too, and about a week after this report was published, the governor added more than $5 million to the budget for new investigators.

If there is even more childcare fraud happening in Minnesota, Minnesotans deserve to know.

Rooting out fraud should be a bipartisan effort

Local and federal investigators have already been dealing with other fraud allegations in Minnesota regarding housing and food programs for low-income kids. In November, the 78th defendant was charged in the "Feeding Our Future" fraud scheme. On Dec. 18, six more people were federally charged with participating in a fraud scheme involving autistic people and the Housing Stabilization Services fraud scheme.

Sadly, Minnesota has become a cautionary example of how progressive policies can drain taxpayers’ money and undermine the agency and patience of hardworking Minnesotans.

Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.