MN Senate leader leery of proposed agreement on insulin assistance program

The Republican leader of the Minnesota Senate is leery of a bipartisan agreement announced Monday to set up an emergency insulin assistance program in Minnesota. Senator Paul Gazelka from Nisswa says about the state Human Services Department’s proposed role that it’s not wise to “add emergency work to an agency with a temporary commissioner, a history of program fraud and failure, and a reportedly hostile work culture.” Gazelka says they’ll continue working on a solution. But a key issue remains unresolved: whether insulin manufacturers will help pay for the program. That dispute is apparently what blew up a deal during the special legislative session in late May. Governor Tim Walz says he’ll call lawmakers back to Saint Paul when a deal is done.