Minnesota paid-leave law starts Jan. 1 amid fraud concerns critics say
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
As a massive fraud scandal continues to unfold in Minnesota, a new law allowing 20 weeks of paid leave in the state is scheduled to go into effect on January 1. Critics say this opens the door to more fraud in the state.
The legislation signed into law by Gov. Tim Walz would give Minnesota workers up to 12 weeks of partially paid leave per year to care for a newborn or sick family member and up to 12 weeks of leave to recover from their own serious illness. For employees who receive both, benefits will be limited to 20 weeks per year.
“Everyone deserves paid time away from work to heal, grow and live,” Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan said at the 2023 signing ceremony. “This time is not optional. It’s not a nice thing to have. It’s a necessity if we’re truly going to be the best state in the country to raise a family.”
The new state paid leave program, while separate from and in addition to existing federal and Minnesota parental and maternity leave rights, can run concurrently with them for the same duration and is administered by a new government agency called the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, with more than 400 full-time employees overseeing the process.
MINNESOTA GOP LEGISLATORS Speak Constitution in Call for Walz’s Resignation Over FRAUD CRISIS
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz will be in St. Petersburg on December 12, 2024. He sits down for an interview with Star Tribune reporters in his office at the St. Paul State Capitol. (Alex Kormann/The Minnesota Star Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Critics on social media in recent days have expressed skepticism about the measures put in place to prevent scammers from abusing the new law, given the massive scandal at Minnesota’s nonprofits and outreach programs; prosecutors say the total could be $9 billion.
“Amid a massive fraud scandal, Minnesota Democrats are bragging about creating a new mandate that’s open to abuse,” Red State writer Bonchie said. Published on X “This plan includes forcing businesses to pay premiums and the state paying workers 20 weeks of ‘paid leave.’ Are Minnesotans tired yet?”
Bill Glahn, a policy researcher at the Center of the American Experiment who has been at the forefront of fraud news in Minnesota for many years, told Fox News Digital that he “identifies this as the next billion-dollar fraud.”
Glahn explained that Republicans had previously refused to even hear similar proposals when they controlled the Minnesota House, but Democrats introduced the legislation after gaining full control without any Republican support. Instead of using private insurance companies to manage paid leave, Glahn accuses Democrats of creating an entirely new state-run bureaucracy staffed by hundreds of unionized government employees.
MINNESOTA DEM SENATE CANDIDATE FACED CALLED BY OPPOSITION TO APOLOGIZE FOR VIRAL ‘Pandering’ Hijab VIDEO
The sun is shining on the Minnesota State Capitol. (Steve Karnowski/Associated Press)
“It’s going to be just like all the Medicaid programs that they start from scratch, where they say, ‘Oh, we’re probably going to have two or three million dollars worth of claims on this,’ and then it quickly increases to 100, 200 million,” Glahn said.
Glahn outlined several ways the system could be exploited, including fake companies, fake employees, requests for large benefits after minimal contributions, and multiple people requesting paid leave to care for the same relative without realistic oversight. He argues that fraud detection is nearly impossible because the claims are tied to private homes rather than central locations.
Glahn also warned that individuals could work for short periods of time, qualify, and then repeatedly request long-term paid leave, effectively getting paid for a full year while working only part of it, explaining that Minnesota has a pattern of creating new entitlement programs that quickly identify loopholes and attract fraudsters who can overwhelm oversight.
HOW FEAR OF BEING LABLED ‘RACIST’ HELPED ‘UNBRAIN’ THE FRAUD SCANDAL THAT EXPLODED IN MINNESOTA.
Homeland Security investigators were part of a major fraud investigation in Minneapolis on Monday after a video was released over the weekend about alleged daycare fraud. (Department of Homeland Security)
“When you create a multibillion-dollar government aid program with poor oversight, scammers fall in line,” Townhall columnist and leading commentator on Minnesota fraud Dustin Grage told Fox News Digital. “We’ve already seen what happened in Minnesota. The paid family leave system will be a magnet for abuse.”
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development told Fox News Digital that claims about the potential for fraud in the new law are “not based on fact.”
“Paid Leave has been introduced with robust systems to verify identities and employment histories and detect and prevent fraud. We accept tips from all sources about possible fraud and investigate all reports,” the spokesperson said. “Each authorization must be approved by an appropriate professional. For example, a healthcare provider must verify that medical authorization is required and also verify who they are. Identities are verified through certification, licensing information required with each application.”
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz is facing calls to resign from GOP lawmakers in his state. (Getty)
“Employers are also an important part of this. They will be notified of each permit application, will have the opportunity to review the information to ensure it appears correct, and will report any concerns to us.”
Still, widespread fraud on at least 14 programs in Minnesota has raised major doubts about the safeguards in place for this new law that Democrats have been pushing for years.
“This will be just like every other show,” Glahn told Fox News Digital.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
