Minnesota Senate District 54: Bakeberg, Olson on fraud, taxes and ICE
Republicans handily won this race four years ago. But the current seat holder is retiring and now it’s seen as a tossup.
Money was the topic that drove the discussion at the Sept. 25 candidates forum in Shakopee in the race for Minnesota state Senate’s 54th District.
Republican state Rep. Ben Bakeberg and the Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party’s Rick Olson agreed the state faced many issues such as government spending, rising property taxes, fraud and housing. But they sometimes differed on the solutions to those problems.
The current 54th District senator, Eric Pratt (R-Prior Lake), is not running for reelection and instead running for U.S. House in Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District.
Bakeberg and Olson on state spending
In February, the state’s budget office forecast a $3.7 billion surplus through fiscal year 2027 and a much smaller surplus of $377 million for the two years after that. But it also warned of “significant risks” from tariffs, federal funding cuts and the economic impact of the massive Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration sweeps. The office warned it wouldn’t take much to turn those surpluses into deficits.
“What that says in layman’s terms is we’re spending more than we’re taking in and just in simple math,” Bakeberg said about the budget forecast.
He said it’s time to stop the growth of state government, provide property tax relief and to do more to support local communities. Unfunded mandates, paid family leave and unemployment insurance, Bakeberg says, are among the issues driving up costs for counties as well as schools.
“We need to provide funding and flexibility to our local school districts,” the District 54B state representative said. “We need to reduce mandates and then we need to trust our local school boards to make the decisions that are best for the local needs.”
The 54th Senate District lies within Scott County, where tax levies are going up 8% all while libraries, trails, parks and public health are being cut back by millions of dollars. Local school districts are cutting back, too.
Olson agreed unfunded mandates are part of the problem. But he also criticized Minnesota’s per pupil funding formula for schools.
“The immediate problem is declining enrollment. When your revenue is tied to the number of pupils you have, declining enrollment is a recipe for financial problems,” Olson said.
How they would fight fraud
Earlier this year, the Trump administration claimed Minnesota wasted $9 billion in social spending programs due to widespread fraud. That figure is disputed by state officials, and the amount actually sought by federal prosecutors is much lower than that.
In response, state lawmakers created an Office of the Inspector General to investigate fraud and wasteful spending. But both candidates said that’s just a start.
“The fraud that we’ve experienced is outrageous, and it’s doubly outrageous when it diverts money from the elderly and the disabled,” Olson said. He said the state needs to step up and make sure the money is going to the right providers and patients.
“We need to make sure that not only are the ultimate beneficiaries eligible, but also the providers have to be vetted and qualified.”
Bakeberg said protecting whistleblowers was another step in the right direction and agreed on the need for better verification.
“The other piece is the mindset in these state agencies,” he said. “I heard over and over again in committee how they were not going out and verifying that these were actual sites. In order to verify eligibility you have to go out and physically see.”
Olson and Bakeberg address affordable housing
During the forum, Olson said one way to lower the cost of housing is to build more smaller and less expensive homes. “There needs to be some zoning restrictions or lifted or whatever so that small houses can be built or more houses can be built in smaller areas,” he said.
Bakeberg blamed building codes and regulations for driving up housing costs.
“It’s thousands of dollars more to build a house in Minnesota than it is in Wisconsin, in North and South Dakota and Iowa,” said Bakeberg.
Operation Metro Surge, ICE and reforms
Olson said local officials should cooperate with the federal government but the focus should be on persons charged with serious crimes.
“The way that ICE operated in Minneapolis and Shakopee and other neighborhoods was outrageous, unconstitutional,” he said. “I would not abolish ICE, but I would want to have it reformulated so we’d go back to making common sense and using constitutional methods.”
Bakeberg also said local and federal officials need to work together on immigration and to hold people accountable.
“What happened during the Metro Surge was ridiculous, and I was very, very clear with my federal partners on both sides of the aisle that I do not support it,” Bakeberg said.
The Sept. 25 forum was hosted by the Shakopee Chamber and Visitors Bureau. It can be viewed at the link below:
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