March 1, 2018
| Members Present: | Other Members Present: |
|---|---|
| Senator Warren Limmer | Senator Matt D. Klein |
| Senator Nick A. Frentz | |
| Senator Mary Kiffmeyer | |
| Representative Connie Bernardy | |
| Representative Rick Hansen | |
| Representative Duane Quam | |
Senator Warren Limmer, Chair, called the Legislative Audit Commission (LAC) Evaluation Subcommittee meeting to order at 5:35 p.m. The purpose of the meeting was to review the list of topics to be evaluated by the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) suggested by legislators and others, and to release the OLA special review, Fiscal Impact of Refugee Resettlement: An Assessment of Data Availability.
Judy Randall, Deputy Legislative Auditor, explained that last fall the LAC changed the topic selection process. She said that at this first meeting of the topic selection process, the subcommittee will select a larger number of topics than in past years (around 15). OLA staff will then conduct a preliminary review of each topic and develop a grid rating each topic against the topic-selection criteria.
Ms. Randall explained that the subcommittee usually picks one economic development incentive topic directly, rather than it being included on the legislative survey. Representative Hansen moved that the subcommittee go forward with choosing the economic development topic. Hearing no objections, Senator Limmer agreed. Ms. Randall said that the topic that OLA found to be most promising (based on the LAC’s established criteria) was the Minnesota Job Creation Fund. Representative Hansen agreed with OLA’s assessment and moved this topic for recommendation to the LAC for final approval. The motion prevailed.
Senator Limmer asked members to go through the list of topics and select their top six choices. They decided to move forward the ten topics that had two or more votes. It was agreed that each member would choose one additional topic to move forward, for a total of 16 topics. The Evaluation Subcommittee selected the following list of evaluation topics to move forward:
Charter School Funding
Cybersecurity
Medical Assistance Dental Rates and Medical Assistance Mental Health Care Rates
Metropolitan Council Budgeting
Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (MHFA)
Minnesota State Arts Board
MnDOT Financial Effectiveness
Nursing Home Rates
Office of MNIT Services
Opioids in Nursing Homes
Personal Care Attendants
Pesticide Regulation
Public Facilities Authority (with a focus on water treatment)
Public School Funding
Special Education
State Employee Contracts
Ms. Randall reminded the subcommittee members that at the next meeting, they will whittle the list of 16 topics down to 10-12 “semi-finalist” topics that will then go on a legislative survey to gauge legislators’ interest in each topic.
The meeting then moved to a brief presentation on the special review, Fiscal Impact of Refugee Resettlement: An Assessment of Data Availability. Joel Alter, Director of Special Reviews, said that the LAC had directed OLA to assess whether an analysis of the fiscal impact of refugee resettlement would be feasible. Due to a lack of data, he said there is no way to fully assess the fiscal impact of refugee resettlement in Minnesota.
Senator Limmer said there was an audience member who wanted to address the subcommittee. Rick Heller said that he wanted to make a suggestion for a timely and transparent environment. He said that handouts accompanying the meeting were not available online at the start of the meeting, and that he would like to see a change in the requirements in statutes.
With no further business, Senator Limmer adjourned the meeting at 7:12 p.m.
Senator Warren Limmer, Evaluation Subcommittee Chair
Shelly Gilb, Recording Secretary
