Republicans say the Dayton administration is misusing a program that’s supposed to give state employees a small percentage as a bonus, if they suggest improvements save actual taxpayer dollars. Waconia Representative Jim Nash says, “Many of the awards were not based on savings. They were based on merit: Oh, Joe is a good guy so we’re gonna give Joe this 500 dollars because they made a nice suggestion. It’s supposed to be quantifiable.” Nash says the “gain-sharing” program for state employees “has kinda been perverted or prevaricated into something else by… people who take advantage of it.”
Management and Budget Commissioner Myron Frans responds state law authorizes achievement awards for employees who “reduce the costs of operating state government” — but Frans says the so-called “profit sharing” program mandated by a 2017 law is unworkable.
More in this interview with Rep. Nash: