HF 23

1st Engrossment - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026) Posted on 03/11/2025 08:16am

A bill for an act
relating to employment; providing definitions; modifying whistleblower protections
for public employees; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 181.931, by
adding subdivisions; 181.932, subdivision 1.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 181.931, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 1a. new text end

new text begin Abuse. new text end

new text begin "Abuse" means actions that may, directly or indirectly, result in
unnecessary costs to programs of a state agency or political subdivision. Abuse may involve
paying for items or services when there is no legal entitlement to that payment.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 181.931, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 3a. new text end

new text begin Fraud. new text end

new text begin "Fraud" means an intentional or deliberate act to deprive another of
property or money or to acquire property or money by deception or other unfair means.
Fraud includes intentionally submitting false information to the department for the purpose
of obtaining a greater compensation or benefit than that to which the person is legally
entitled. Fraud also includes failure to correct errors in the maintenance of records in a
timely manner after a request by a state agency or political subdivision.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 181.931, is amended by adding a subdivision to
read:

new text begin Subd. 7. new text end

new text begin Waste. new text end

new text begin "Waste" means practices that, directly or indirectly, result in unnecessary
costs to programs of a state agency or political subdivision, such as misusing resources.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 181.932, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Prohibited action.

An employer shall not discharge, discipline, penalize,
interfere with, threaten, restrain, coerce, or otherwise retaliate or discriminate against an
employee regarding the employee's compensation, terms, conditions, location, or privileges
of employment because:

(1) the employee, or a person acting on behalf of an employee, in good faith, reports a
violation, suspected violation, or planned violation of any federal or state law or common
law or rule adopted pursuant to law to an employer or to any governmental body or law
enforcement official;

(2) the employee is requested by a public body or office to participate in an investigation,
hearing, inquiry;

(3) the employee refuses an employer's order to perform an action that the employee
has an objective basis in fact to believe violates any state or federal law or rule or regulation
adopted pursuant to law, and the employee informs the employer that the order is being
refused for that reason;

(4) the employee, in good faith, reports a situation in which the quality of health care
services provided by a health care facility, organization, or health care provider violates a
standard established by federal or state law or a professionally recognized national clinical
or ethical standard and potentially places the public at risk of harm;

(5) a public employee communicates the findings of a scientific or technical study that
the employee, in good faith, believes to be truthful and accurate, including reports to a
governmental body or law enforcement official; deleted text begin or
deleted text end

(6) an employee in the classified service of state government communicates information
that the employee, in good faith, believes to be truthful and accurate, and that relates to state
services, including the financing of state services, to:

(i) a legislator or the legislative auditor; or

(ii) a constitutional officer deleted text begin . deleted text end new text begin ; or
new text end

new text begin (7) a public employee, in good faith, reports fraud, waste, or abuse in programs of a state
agency or political subdivision to the employer, a governmental body, a law enforcement
official, the legislative auditor, a member of the legislature, or a constitutional officer.
new text end

The disclosures protected pursuant to this section do not authorize the disclosure of data
otherwise protected by law.