The news coming out of St. Paul this week feels like a betrayal of the very communities that state leaders claim to protect. While Governor Tim Walz and the Trump administration engage in a high-stakes game of political chicken over “fraud prevention,” grassroots organizations in Twin Cities and beyond are the ones being lined up for the firing squad.
Governor Walz’s proposal to end direct legislative grants is not a strategic reform; it is a structural eviction of Black excellence from the public square. By framing this as a response to the “Feeding Our Future” scandal, the Governor is using the criminal actions of a few to justify the systemic exclusion of the many.
Senator Bobby Joe Champion is right to stand in the gap. He understands what the Governor seemingly does not: Direct appropriations are not the source of fraud—they are the source of life for under-resourced communities. There are no allegations of fraud that involve an organization who received a direct appropriation! None! To make ending direct appropriations as a part of the anti-fraud package suggests that direct appropriations contributed to the State’s fraud crisis. It is analogous to a man passing gas and blaming the dog!
As Senator Champion bluntly stated this week:
“I will not vote for and will actively rally support against any bill that includes an end to direct appropriations… I am not willing to blame avenues used to invest in communities across our state… that are not the source of or a contributor to fraud.”
For decades, Insight News has chronicled how Black-led nonprofits and small businesses operate on the front lines, often doing the heavy lifting that state agencies are too detached to handle. We don’t just promote the efficacy and necessity of culturally centered services, we promote sovereignty, equity and accountability.
We are the trusted messengers advancing the idea that our community must follow the money, challenging and exposing institutional injustices. As I have often said, “They get the money, we get the misery.”
The Governor’s “competitive bidding” pivot assumes a level playing field exists. When you require a 50- page technical RFP for every dollar, you aren’t selecting the best service provider; you are selecting the best grant writer. Large, legacy institutions with multi-million dollar endowments will win every time. Grassroots leaders—those with the relational authority to stop a bullet or feed a family in a crisis—will be locked out because they don’t have a compliance department.
We are told this is about “transparency.” But where was the transparency when federal judges had to block the Trump administration from halting Medicaid and SNAP funds earlier this year? The state is being squeezed by a “retribution” campaign from Washington, and rather than holding the line, the Governor is offering up our community’s lifelines as a peace offering.
We agree that accountability is sacred. Public service both is and requires stewardship. You do not stop a leak by tearing down the house. You fix the pipes.
If the Governor wants to fight fraud, he should invest in building the capacity of local leaders to handle rigorous reporting without stripping them of their autonomy. He should listen to Senator Champion, who has spent a stellar career of public service standing shoulder to shoulder with us.
Governor Walz, we are not the fraudsters you are looking for. We are the partners you cannot afford to lose. Do not let “accountability” become a code word for “abandonment.”
