Rep. Paul Torkelson has sat in incredulity as county workers demonstrated the antiquated information technology systems they use to administer Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and other bedrock public benefit programs.
“We have gone decades without doing what should be done,” Torkelson, R-Hanska, said in an interview. “To be sitting there staring at a green screen is not something anyone should have to do.”
Torkelson’s sentiments are practically universal at the state Capitol. Minnesota has its counties operate eligibility and benefits for the aforementioned programs, and the technology these counties use is embarrassing and may lead to social services fraud.
Related: Waiting to load: The struggle to address IT systems that may contribute to social services fraud
But as the Legislature lurches into its final weeks of session, it is unclear how (or if) lawmakers will agree upon financing an issue whose solution necessitates savvy about both computers and the social safety net.
A look at the main idea lawmakers have proposed.
Borrowing money
This is a (possible) bonding bill year, so why not incorporate technology infrastructure into a borrowing package better known for paving roads and fixing bridges?
“Our bonding system was designed for a different era,” Sen. Scott Dibble, DFL-Minneapolis, said at a Senate Capital Investment Committee hearing last week. “It doesn’t work very well for digital infrastructure that now powers nearly every single public service we provide.”
But other lawmakers, including Dibble’s caucus leader, Erin Murphy, are not in to this expansive idea.
“We have looked into the question of how we will be able to bond for the modernization of our IT, and it’s pretty limited,” the Senate Majority Leader from St. Paul told reporters last week.
Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls, elaborated on lawmaker misgivings at the hearing, stating that technology upgrades move at a faster pace than, say, wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and that technology bonding for counties will crowd out more traditional needs.
“Sometimes we just have to make tough choices about what we spend the money on,” Rasmusson said.
Dibble, however, appears confident that his colleagues are out of touch with voters on this one.
He has proposed a bill that would ask voters to amend the state constitution to make clear that information technology improvements are deserving of state bonding. Under state elections law, a majority of voters casting ballots in November would have to vote ‘yes’ in order to make the change.
Why the seemingly dramatic move of a constitutional amendment?
Because Article 11, Section Five of the Minnesota constitution gets into detail about what the state can, and cannot, issue a bond to finance. They encompass common uses like water project funding requests, but also dated ones like repelling an insurrection.
Information technology spending is not explicitly authorized, but one test lawmakers have used in the past is whether infrastructure projects are long-lasting and substantial. County workers say their computer frustrations meet this threshold.
“The failure and disrepair is unacceptable,” said Matt Peabody, director of information technology for Olmsted County at the Capital Investment hearing. “We strongly believe IT infrastructure falls into this category.”
Still, with Murphy’s opposition, the bonding bill would appear (for now) to be an unlikely vehicle for revamping public assistance computer systems.
Borrowing money without the total assurance of repayment
Allow us to introduce you to Certificates of Participation, which are not token awards given to each lawmaker with good attendance, but instead raise money in exchange for lease payments by the state to investors.
A Certificate of Participation is currently being used to finance a new office building for Minnesota House members.
Rep. Luke Fredericks, DFL-Mankato, and Sen. Amanda Hemmingsen-Jaeger, DFL-Woodbury, have proposed legislation that would effectively lease out new technology to the state, with Minnesota counties getting $10 million each year over the next decade in the bargain.
A Certificate of Participation is generally considered a riskier financial proposition than a garden variety bond, and so may come with higher state payments. Rasmusson, among others, poked holes in this idea.
“There’s actually quite a bit of risk around it,” he said at the hearing, raising the possibility of future Legislatures not appropriating the money for repayments.
Actually set aside money toward fixing the IT problem
Gov. Tim Walz has vowed to veto bills that dramatically raise state spending, but even the governor has proposed spending $46 million over the next three years to address “legacy IT systems used by county workers across social service programs.”
A spending package builds on Walz’s idea. The omnibus Health and Human Services bill would put $70 million over three years toward improving social services information technology. It is expected to be heard and passed by the DFL-controlled Senate this week.
The package was written by Sen. Melissa Wiklund, DFL-Bloomington, who has spent the past several months hearing from counties about their technology needs.
The bill details specific complexities facing county workers.
For example, one item counsels counties to “develop the ability” for a tech system associated with Medicaid to “note when a recipient has a second pregnancy.”
One other item requests that this Medicaid system finally “complete the renewal self-service portal,” while another calls for a way to stop the (error inducing) tedium of “duplicative data entry.”
Wiklund’s bill also includes money so these systems can integrate changes from the One Big Beautiful Bill including eligibility reverification every six months and work requirements for some recipients.
Related: Bill to fund construction projects across Minnesota will have to clear some political hurdles
Torkelson said he has worked with the governor’s office and Wiklund on an IT bill. The lawmaker said that, while he is on the same page as Wiklund, he wants a standalone bill, not an omnibus.
One alternative idea, jointly proposed by Torkelson and Wiklund, would require the Legislature to set aside money to tech system upgrades each year the state shows a budget surplus. Minnesota has a surplus now, and that is forecast to continue until 2029.
What Torkelson, Walz and Wiklund all have in common is that they are not seeking reelection. Each of these politicians say they are resolved to at least begin to fix this tech mess before they depart.
Different “approaches are not in conflict,” Wiklund emailed. “They demonstrate the broader discussion we need to have on how to bring everything together as we negotiate final details.”
