Legislative Oversight Commission Stops Work As Next Chair Campaigns To Lead MN GOP

By Ricardo Lopez, Minnesota Reformer

March 10, 2021

The Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission, a powerful bipartisan body that decides what state programs and agencies the Legislature will investigate, has not met since December over concerns that the next chair is currently running to head the Minnesota Republican Party.

Next in line for chair is state Sen. Mark Koran, R-North Branch, who late last year announced a run against current GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan.

The Office of Legislative Auditor, which the commission oversees, often conducts high profile investigations of the executive branch that expose waste and malfeasance and can drive news coverage for days. Gov. Tim Walz, the first-term Democrat, is expected to run for reelection; if he’s elected chair of the GOP, Koran’s top goal would be unseating Walz.

State Rep. Rick Hansen, DFL-South St. Paul, the current chair of the commission, said in an interview that Democratic-Farmer-Labor members of the commission are not comfortable with Koran leading the commission.

“It’s somewhat unprecedented,” Hansen said. “The legislative auditor reviews the executive branch, so it would be awkward to say the least, and very concerning.”

The commission is made up of an equal number of DFL and GOP lawmakers from both the House and Senate. The position of commission chair alternates between the House and Senate every two years.

Hansen said he has discussed the matter with Koran and said on Tuesday that he and other House DFL members of the commission hope to hear further from Koran.

In an interview, Koran insisted that his running for GOP party chair will have no bearing on the work he would do as commission chair.

“Unfortunately, politics are getting in the way,” he said of the situation. “I’ve proven over and over again that I don’t let politics get in the way of that process.”

The election for party chair is scheduled for April 10.

Asked if he would have concerns if a DFL member chaired the commission and simultaneously headed the state DFL Party, Koran said he would not.

Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka, R-East Gull Lake, a potential 2022 gubernatorial candidate, declined to comment through a spokeswoman.

As chair, Koran would have the power to set the agenda for meetings, bringing to the commission what topics Legislative Auditor Jim Nobles would investigate. (Nobles, who was first appointed in 1983, can also initiate audits on his own, but he regularly meets with the commission for guidance.)

In his nearly 40-year tenure in the role, Nobles’ office has completed high-profile investigations into programs like the Minnesota Lottery, the state’s Minnesota Sex Offenders Program, as well as investigations into former governors and other top state political leaders.

He declined to comment on the chair succession situation.

“This is an issue that legislators will have to resolve,” he wrote in an email.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..