July 1, 2026
Senator D. Scott Dibble, Chair, called the Legislative Audit Commission (LAC) Evaluation Subcommittee meeting to order at 10:04 a.m. in room 123 State Capitol. Senator Dibble asked for a roll call; all members were present.
Senator Dibble recognized and welcomed Representative Hansen to the meeting and invited him to participate in the discussion. Senator Dibble then stated that members would be reviewing topic selection documents to narrow the list of topics to recommend for approval to the LAC and introduced Jodi Munson Rodríguez, Deputy Legislative Auditor, Program Evaluation Division of the Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) to explain further. Ms. Munson Rodríguez briefly discussed the topic selection policy, Legislative survey results received from 139 respondents, and other information on the eight topics under consideration:
Senator Dibble opened the meeting to member discussion. In response to members’ questions, Ms. Munson Rodríguez advised that a Minnesota Paid Leave evaluation would not be timely enough to inform legislative budget adjustments before the end of next session and that selecting the Mortuary Science Program, MPCA Feedlot Permitting, and Postsecondary Enrollment Options topics would satisfy the follow-up evaluation policy requirement but not the board or council evaluation policy requirement.
Senator Rest then moved to select the Postsecondary Enrollment Options topic to advance to the LAC for selection consideration.
Representative Anderson moved to amend Senator Rest’s motion to add the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy as a second topic. Senator Rest indicated her support for the amendment. Representative Lee asked if the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy had to be selected at this time to satisfy the requirement for selecting a board to review, and that if it was not necessary, he would not be in favor of Representative Anderson’s amendment. Senator Drazkowski added that since the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy was the lowest vote-getter in the legislative survey, that perhaps it should go back into the larger topic pool in the fall to be reviewed. Ms. Munson Rodriguez clarified that the Evaluation Subcommittee would have an opportunity in the fall to look back at the larger list of topics submitted to OLA and consider other topics that met the requirement at that time.
Representative Anderson then modified her amendment to specify that the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy be selected as a recommendation to the LAC, with the evaluation to commence in the fall. The amendment, as modified, passed unanimously on a roll call vote. Senator Rest’s motion, as amended, to select Postsecondary Enrollment Options and recommend the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy (to commence in the fall) passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
Representative Lee then moved to select the Minnesota Department of Health Mortuary Science Program and Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Feedlot Permitting topics to fill the two remaining selection slots.
Senator Drazkowski moved to amend Representative Lee’s motion to add Minnesota Paid Leave as a topic, marked for commencement in the fall. Discussion followed regarding whether this meant the topic would start in the fall or if the topic was being pre-selected as a final topic to recommend to the LAC in the fall. Representative Lee stated he would not support the amendment as worded and would accept it only if framed as a recommendation rather than a firm selection, consistent with the Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy amendment. Senator Drazkowski withdrew his amendment to the Lee motion.
Representative Lee’s motion to select the Minnesota Department of Health Mortuary Science Program and the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Feedlot Permitting topics passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
Senator Drazkowski then moved that the Evaluation Subcommittee recommend to the LAC that the Minnesota Paid Leave evaluation be scheduled for selection in the fall. Following brief discussion clarifying that the recommendation referred to the fall 2026 selection process, with the evaluation to commence in winter or spring of 2027 and a resulting report not expected until early 2028, the motion passed unanimously on a roll call vote.
In summary, topics approved for final consideration by the LAC were: (1) Minnesota Department of Health Mortuary Science Program, (2) Minnesota Pollution Control Agency Feedlot Permitting, and (3) Postsecondary Enrollment Options. Topics selected for recommendation as selection for the LAC to consider in the fall were: (1) Board of Behavioral Health and Therapy, and (2) Minnesota Paid Leave.
Seeing no further discussion, Senator Dibble adjourned the meeting at 10:50 a.m.
Senator D. Scott Dibble, Chair
Evaluation Subcommittee
Maureen Garrahy, Recording Secretary
