LISTEN: GOP State Rep. Jim Joy of Hawley’s conversation with Kevin Flynn on The Flag
MINNESOTA – Minnesota’s paid family medical leave program begins Thursday, January 1 and a GOP member of the Legislature is concerned about it starting while there are investigations into other state programs.
“Right now Minnesota has a fraud problem. I don’t think we should be starting any new programs. I think everything should be suspended or held up for a while,” State Representative Jim Joy of Hawley said on The Flag.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota says half of $18 billion in Medicaid claims paid to Minnesota programs could be bogus and 14 state programs have been targeted for fraud.
Paid family medical leave offers up to 20 weeks of leave per year for employees who work more than 50 percent in Minnesota for family and medical reasons.
The benefits are paid through a new payroll tax of 0.88% which can be split between employers and employees. Those who work more than half the time in states other than Minnesota don’t have to pay the payroll tax.
“I brought up last year, why don’t we have checks and balances? Let’s look at the program in 12 months. Is it working? Is it making progress? Is it doing what it’s supposed to do?” Joy explained.
After the Annunciation Catholic Church shooting in August, Governor Tim Walz said he wanted to call a special session to ban assault weapons in the state. Joy said instead of doing that, he should call a special session on fraud.
“I’m afraid… Are [Democrats] going to come next year and ask for a fraud tax that will pay back this fraud? The stuff we owe the federal government,” Joy said.
Earlier this month, Walz added former superintendent of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension Tim O’Malley to his administration as the Director of Program Integrity to work across state government to strengthen fraud prevention and protect taxpayer dollars.
