Area state legislators said proposals to address fraud in Minnesota state programs were a high priority in the early part of this spring’s session.

“I think certainly there’s a high possibility of getting some stuff done this year,” said state Sen. Gary Dahms, R-Redwood Falls. However, Dahms said there would likely be differences in how political parties wanted to address the issue.

Last week, Senate Republicans released a legislative action plan geared toward stopping fraud in Minnesota public services. In a news release, Dahms said the plan included measures like automatic audits and legislative review for services exceeding their spending projections, and stronger accountability measures for employees of the Department of Human Services and the Department of Children, Youth and Families.

However, Dahms said ultimately what gets done to fight fraud will come down to working out differences among Republican and Democratic bills in the state House and Senate.

“I think people on both sides of the aisle understand something needs to be done,” he said. “It’s the way the bills are drawn up.”

In a recent legislative update, Rep. Chris Swedzinski, R-Ghent, said that stopping fraud in Minnesota was one of the top priorities for House Republicans this session.

One major Republican proposal includes creating a new Office of the Inspector General, Swedzinski said Thursday. The office would operate independently of state agencies, and work to identify and investigate fraud in state programs.

“If we can get this out of partisan hands, we’ll have a lot less to worry about,” Swedzinski said of fraud investigations.

While the Minnesota House having an even split of Democrats and Republicans could lead to some challenges in passing legislation, Swedzinski said legislators will need to take bipartisan action.

“Everything will be bipartisan at the end of the day, because it’s going to have to be,” he said.

Swedzinski and Dahms were less confident that gun control proposals unveiled by Gov. Tim Walz this week would be passed. Walz’s proposed gun violence prevention package included measures like a ban on assault rifles and high-capacity magazines, as well as a ban on firearms without serial numbers, and increased support for mental health resources and school safety programs.

“With gun control, it’s hard to get the votes to pass it,” Dahms said. He felt that there would probably be legislators across the aisle who were not in favor of the governor’s proposal. The split between Republicans and Democrats in the House could also make it tough to pass gun control, he said.

“There is work that I think can be done,” to prevent gun violence, Swedzinski said. Both he and Dahms said preventative measures could include support for school safety improvements and funding for mental health supports.

But Swedzinski said he didn’t think there was bipartisan support for rifle and magazine bans. “We have to protect our Second Amendment rights,” he said.

Dahms said it’s still early in the legislative session, so state lawmakers are focused on bills in committee.

Swedzinski said he had been working with a couple of bills this week. One bill, that passed out of the House Energy Finance and Policy committee, would allow some funds that reimburse the costs of cleaning up underground petroleum tanks to also be used for replacing pipe lines. “It’s trying to get ahead of things,” and prevent spills, he said.

Swedzinski said his bill that would allow anglers in Minnesota to fish with two lines instead of one also had a committee hearing. “It had some very good engagement,” he said.