SE Twin Cities

Recently, Minnesota State Representative Pam Altendorf addressed several ongoing issues in the state, including the expansion of data centers, concerns about fraud in state agencies, climate change discourse, and developments affecting local farmers.

Altendorf referenced a recent meeting by the Cannon Falls City Council regarding a proposed data center project. She emphasized the importance of community input and expressed concern about the increased energy demand that such projects bring. Altendorf argued that renewable sources like wind and solar may not be sufficient to meet these needs. She stated, "If Minnesotans want data centers, then the state needs to match the electric demands they will require. Currently we cannot, and unless something changes we will inevitably have blackouts, which will be catastrophic when it’s 20-below zero outside." She advocated for removing Minnesota's nuclear moratorium to address potential energy shortages.

Addressing fraud within Minnesota's Department of Human Services, Altendorf cited a report from KSTP describing how state funds continued to be sent to a nonprofit after its board chair was charged with fraud. She also referenced comments from former legislative auditor Jim Nobles published in the StarTribune. Nobles stated: “While executive officials were obviously negligent, less obvious is the fact that some key legislators tried to minimize the fraud problem and shield the Department of Human Services and the Walz administration from criticism.

For example, when the Office of the Legislative Auditor issued a report on child care fraud, the then-chair of the House Human Services committee dismissed the report and the problem, saying, 'there’s always going to be fraud,' and she refused to allow OLA to present its report to the committee. In addition, the chief House supporter of publicly funded child care subsidies criticized the OLA report for referencing prosecutions that had proven fraud in the child care program. The references were unnecessary and harmful, he said.

As like-minded House members joined in criticizing OLA for investigating allegations of fraud in human service programs, I met with Speaker Melissa Hortman. As always, she was thoughtful and supportive of OLA’s work but acknowledged that some members of her caucus were upset. They felt that OLA reports were subjecting human service programs to too much criticism, particularly programs administered by Somali community organizations.

The speaker said that as a former county prosecutor, she knew the fraud OLA was addressing was real and needed to be investigated. She did, however, acknowledge that House committee chairs had been instructed not to give OLA reports about fraud any public hearings.”

Altendorf summarized these comments by saying there was widespread awareness of problems documented by OLA but alleged Democrats acted to prevent public scrutiny because it could reflect poorly on Governor Walz's administration.

On climate change policy discussions this week, Altendorf noted remarks made by Bill Gates who has previously authored "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster." Gates recently advised against adopting a "doomsday view" on climate change and remarked that "people will be able to live and thrive on Earth for the foreseeable future." Altendorf questioned whether Gates’ shift would influence political decisions regarding green energy investments.

In agricultural news important for Minnesota farmers, Altendorf highlighted an agreement announced by President Trump securing China’s purchase of 25 metric tons of soybeans annually from U.S. producers—with 12 metric tons set for immediate shipment—saying this would benefit Minnesota’s agricultural economy.