The connection between Newsom’s record and the Minnesota scam is controversial

from Dan WaltersCalMatters

This comment was originally posted by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Last month, as required by law, State Auditor Grant Parks released an annual report on state programs and agencies that his office deemed “high risk’ of costly inefficiency, waste or fraud.

The report again raises concerns about seven situations, two of which are on the 2007 list, including the bureaucracy situation chronic inability to successfully use information technology — disconcerting for a country that is a global hub for digital tools.

Parks added a new program in his latest review, the Department of Social Services’ food aid for poor families, once called food stamps, but now known as CalFresh.

The federal government mostly funds supplemental food assistance, but the state’s share is determined in part by its governance, as shown by the error rate in determining people’s eligibility.

One big, beautiful bill from President Donald Trump tightens error rate thresholds. Thus, Parks notes, California’s 11 percent error rate, if not improved, could require the state to “spend about $2 billion a year to maintain CalFresh benefits.”

The most troubling item on Parks’ list is the continued inability of the Employment Development Department to effectively manage unemployment benefits, which first came to light during the COVID-19 pandemic. Claims for billions of dollars in fraudulent benefits were approvedalmost all of which came in a federally funded expansion of the program.

Coincidentally, the high risk report was released just then a scandal broke out in Minnesota over widespread fraud in a program designed to provide food to children during the pandemic.

Dozens of people, mostly among Minnesota’s sizable Somali population, were accused of ripping off the program by setting up companies that billed the state for food deliveries that were never delivered.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Waltz, whom Kamala Harris picked as her running mate in her 2024 presidential campaign, felt the political fallout from the scandal — generated mostly in right-wing media — this week as well. withdrew his candidacy for re-election.

Meanwhile, those same outlets — blogs, podcasts and YouTube videos — are drawing an accusatory link between the Minnesota scandal and the Parks report, suggesting the report proves the same kind of fraud is even more prevalent in California and pinning the blame on Gov. Gavin Newsom, a likely 2028 presidential candidate.

This week, Steve Hilton, a Republican candidate for governor of California, and Herb Morgan, a Republican running for state comptroller, cited the Parks report, their own research and tips from whistleblowers in a sweeping claim called “CALIFORNIA” that “California’s exposure to fraud, waste and abuse in major state programs is likely to reach $250 billion,” adding that it “highlights the urgent need for a formal investigation and audit, as a matter of primary fiscal responsibility.’

Accusations of widespread fraud and mismanagement during Newsom’s governorship are not limited to those on the right side of the political balance, however.

Ro Hanna, a progressive congressional Democrat from Silicon Valley who could challenge Newsom in the 2028 presidential sweepstakes, issued a similar blast in an X post, albeit at a smaller $72 billion price tag, citing the Parks report and other data.

Hanna told Politico, “I don’t know what the specific number is” of dollars lost to fraud or mismanagement. “It’s not specific to any one person,” Kana said. “It makes government more efficient. Tackling mismanagement and waste and some fraud will build more credibility to ask for higher taxes.”

Newsom’s staff responded by accusing Khanna of making a “MAGA fabricated claim.”

There’s a reason veterans of political warfare call election years the “silly season,” when political figures seeking media attention tend to turn anthills of fact into mountains of rhetorical fantasy.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.