July 15,2019 Rep. Tina Liebling Chair, HHS Finance Division 477 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd St. Paul, MN 55155 Rep. RenaMoran Chair, HHS Policy Committee 575 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd St. Paul, MN 55155 Rep. Dave Pinto Chair, Early Childhood Finance & Policy Division 439 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd St. Paul, MN 55155 via electronic delivery Dear Chairs Liebling, Moran, and Pinto, ‘Weare alarmed by the recent developments at the Minnesota Department of Human Serv (DHS). Over the course of one week, the agency has lostits top three officials, and decades institutional knowledge. Neither the agency nor the Walz administration have offered meaningful explanations for these departures. Wealso discovered that an investigation into a complaint against DHS Inspector General Carolyn Ham has not begun, or begun only very recently, despite the fact that she has been on investigative leave for four months and has collected about $42,000 of her taxpayer-funded salary ‘The delay in conducting this investigation is unacceptable. Taxpayers deserve answers from Ms, Ham about her role as Inspector General in the childcare fraud scandal, and to hear from the Walz administration about their plans for leadership moving forward at the DHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) with Ms. Ham on investigative leave and the Acting Inspector General having announced his resignation. ‘Weare requesting that any or all of your committees hold hearings as soonas possible so lawmakers can learn more about the circumstances surrounding the sudden departure of the top three officials at our state’s largest agency. We also renew our request to subpoena Ms. Ham for questioning, and to hear from the Walz administration about their plans to ensure that the OIG has the necessary leadership, mission, and direction to succeed in its role at DHS. ‘The lack of information from DHS and the Walz administration about the recent turmoil is troubling—if there are disagreements about the direction of the agency, or problems that have yet to cometo light that caused the exodus of top agency officials, legislatorsand the public deserve to know what they are.Your committees have the ability to vet these problems publicly, and ensure transparency as DHS moves forward, Ifagency officials are unwilling to appear before the committee, we have the authority to issue subpoenas. Republicans stand ready to provide the votes necessary should subpoenas be needed to compel testimony. Sincerely, LAD uo Rep. Kurt Daudt Minority Leader, House Republican Caucus District 31 oN Rep. Anne New Deputy Minority Leader, House Republican Caucus District 32B Rep. Joe Schomacker Republican Lead, House HHS Finance Di District22A Rep. Deb Kiel Republican Lead, House HHS Policy Committee DistrictO1B Mog) Gere Rep. Mary Franson Republican Lead, House Early Childhood Finance & Policy Di DistrictosB Tp pe Rep. Tony Albright Republican Lead, House State Government Finance Division DistrictssB ion CC (via electronic delivery): Melissa Hortman, Speaker of the House