We're hearing more reaction Monday from the chair of the Minnesota Fraud Prevention and Oversight Committee about plans to end the state's troubled housing stabilization program.
"I think that this program is so riddled with fraud that the only remedy is to shut it down," explains Republican State Representative Kristin Robbins.
She also talked about the possibility of re-launching the program.
"I mean I'm not convinced it should be relaunched, but I'm happy to have that conversation," she told WCCO on Monday. "I reached out to DHS on Friday and we're working on setting up a meeting this week."
Robbins says they tried to pass a bill last session that would have created an Office of Inspector General to address potential fraud but the bill failed in the House.
According to Robbins, the plan is introduce it again in the next legislative session to try and get it passed.
FBI investigators are currently looking into fraud in the program which was intended to help people find and keep housing. Records show the Housing Stabilization Services program cost taxpayers less than $3 million a year, a price tag that ballooned to $104 million for last year alone.
Robbins says the housing program is one of other programs with the same fraud problems.
"When there's failure of the agency to do the internal controls, the governor doesn't hold his agencies accountable for their responsibility," Robbins added.