"Undocumented workers, youth workers, and new workers are also covered."
The launch of these new, state-funded social safety net programs comes as Minnesota and Walz are under fire for having allowed massive fraud to take place under the auspices of other government programs.
The program allows people to take time off for illness or for new baby bonding time, with a maximum of 20 weeks per year total. The program is funded by an increase in payroll taxes, to be paid by both employees and employers and was passed into law in 2023.
A new agency was started within the Minnesota state government to administer the plan, the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development. More than 400 people will work in that agency on a full-time basis to administer leave programs and enforce employer compliance.
The Minnesota Chamber of Commerce states that "Almost all employers in Minnesota are required to participate. Therefore, most people who work in Minnesota - whether it’s work full time, part-time, temp work, hourly, seasonally, or more than one job - are covered. Undocumented workers, youth workers, and new workers are also covered."
The fraud has primarily been within the Somali community in Minnesota and there have been dozens of prosecutions to date, with more expected. Somalians are accused of starting up non-profits to provide state-sanctioned services, taking money from the state for that purpose, never providing the services and squandering the funds either on themselves or sending it back to Somalia.
In some instances, those who ran the non-profits gave kick-backs to those in the community to ensure that they would claim to have received the services. Practices such as these reveal that the fraud was not isolated but was spread out among those within the Somali community.
Walz addressed that fraud in a press conference, saying "How disrespectful to people to assume that all Minnesotans are scamming. That's what I hear from [Republicans] all the time. I trust Minnesotans. I believe in Minnesotans. I believe they know you're not going to get rich and it's not your full salary. You're not going to scam and take time off."
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