Office of the Legislative Auditor

Minutes

Legislative Audit Commission
Evaluation Subcommittee

March 14, 2025

Senator D. Scott Dibble, Chair, called the Legislative Audit Commission (LAC) Evaluation Subcommittee meeting to order at 8:03 a.m. Chair Dibble said the subcommittee was to review the LAC Policy on Program Evaluation Topic Selection, and narrow the overall list of topics submitted to the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) for further consideration. Chair Dibble asked for a roll call; all subcommittee members were present.

Chair Dibble introduced Judy Randall, Legislative Auditor; and Jodi Munson Rodríguez, Deputy Legislative Auditor for the Program Evaluation Division. Ms. Munson Rodríguez explained the topic selection process and the tentative schedule for upcoming meetings. She said that as part of the selection policy for evaluation topics, the LAC would need to select at least: (1) one board, committee, council, or authority or advisory task force of the executive branch; and (2) one follow up to a program evaluation that was completed at least five years prior. She added that OLA had identified a few topics on the list which were areas of concern or areas where OLA’s skill and authority would make it uniquely able to do an evaluation.

With no questions from members, Chair Dibble suggested that each member select their top three choices, which could result in a total of 18 topics. Chair Dibble asked Ms. Munson Rodríguez if that would allow enough time for OLA to develop background papers on the topics; she agreed that number would be okay.

Chair Dibble then took topic choices from members, with some clarifying discussion regarding a few of the topics being considered. The following 18 topics were selected by the members:

1. Fiscal Notes (No. 4 from the Topic List)
2. Nonemergency Medical Transportation (No. 11)
3. Board of Animal Health (BAH) Oversight of Companion Animals (No. 16)
4. Minnesota Board of Public Defense (No. 26)
5. Minnesota Office of Ombudsperson for Families (No. 31)
6. Automatic Voter Registration (No. 36)
7. State Oversight of Long-Term Care Insurance (No. 41)
8. Unemployment Insurance (No. 42)
9. Minnesota Agricultural Water Quality Certification Program (WQCP) (No. 53)
10. Enterprise Talent Development (No. 58)
11. Nursing Home and Assisted Living Facilities Licensing (No. 64)
12. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Services (No. 67)
13. Child Care Assistance Program (CCAP) (No. 68)
14. Department of Human Services Oversight of MinnesotaCare (No. 78)
15. Financial Transparency in Nursing Facilities (No. 82)
16. Medical Assistance Fraud Prevention (No. 85)
17. Taxpayers’ Transportation Accountability Act (TTAA) (No. 96)
18. Voter Registration System (No. 110)

With no further discussion, Senator Rest moved the list be accepted for OLA to develop background papers. Representative Anderson seconded the motion. A roll call vote was taken. With all subcommittee members present, the motion passed unanimously. Chair Dibble noted that the accepted list did include topics meeting the two parameters set forth by the topic selection policy, as covered earlier.

Chair Dibble then invited Ms. Munson Rodríguez to provide closing comments and a preview of the discussion that would take place at the next LAC meeting. Ms. Munson Rodríguez said part of the meeting would discuss proposals to change the timing and frequency of topic selection.

Seeing no further discussion, Chair Dibble adjourned the meeting at 8:45 a.m.

Senator D. Scott Dibble, Chair
  Evaluation Subcommittee

Maureen Garrahy, Recording Secretary