According to the Combined Legislative Meeting Calendar, the Legislative Audit Commission will meet on Monday, April 12 at 8:30 a.m.
First item on the agenda? Elect new officers of the LAC as required by law.
The date that the Commission resumes meeting appears to be linked to the Saturday, April 10, 2021 Republican Party of Minnesota State Central Committee Meeting. One of the tasks facing the delegates is the election of state party chair.
What's the link?
Earlier this month, Ricardo Lopez reported for the Minnesota Reformer, Legislative oversight commission stops work as next chair campaigns to lead MN GOP:
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. . . .
According to its webpage on the Office of the Legislative Auditor site:
The Legislative Audit Commission (LAC) is a bi-partisan commission with 6 members from the House of Representatives and 6 from the Senate, equally divided between the majority and minority parties. Membership is governed by Minnesota Statutes 2020, 3.97, subd. 2. The commission appoints the Legislative Auditor and selects topics for the Program Evaluation Division to review. It also periodically holds hearings to review audit and evaluation reports. The commission chair rotates every two years between the House and the Senate.
We'll be looking to see who is elected state chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota--followed by the vote for Legislative Audit Commission on the following Monday.
Related posts:
- Longtime Hagedorn business & political ally in Fillmore County endorses Koran for state chair
- MN Reformer: #mnleg oversight commission stops work as next chair campaigns to lead #mngop
- Is the contest for Republican Party of Minnesota state chair a cheesy Law and Order fanzine?
- Republican Party of MN reports self-employed James, Hagedorn lives in St. Louis Park
- RPM, Friends of Hagedorn confuse state & federal campaign finance reports in answering PB question about Hagedorn's residence
Photo: State senator Mark Koran, left, facing camera, speaking to Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka. Via the Minnesota Senate Republicans Caucus.
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