Republican lawmakers are calling for increased scrutiny of child care subsidy programs in the wake of fraud concerns in Minnesota.

Two lawmakers have announced plans for legislation to audit the state’s child care subsidy efforts. The chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee told CapitolWire/State Affairs that hearings will likely be held as well.

Sen. Michele Brooks, R-Mercer, announced Sunday that she intends to introduce legislation to provide “greater transparency, oversight and reporting of taxpayer-funded child care programs.”

This year’s budget includes $324 million for child care assistance, including just under $125 million in state funds.

The most recent data available from the federal government shows a 3.55% improper payment rate for child care assistance nationally in 2023. That was down from 4% the prior year and down from 5.16% in 2020.

Despite the reduction, the 3.55% error rate suggests that more than $10 million may have been improperly paid out through the day care subsidy programs in 2023.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services froze almost $2.4 billion in child care and family assistance grants in five states and reversed several Biden-era child care rules in response to concerns about fraud in the programs.

Last week, Rep. Jill Cooper, R-Westmoreland, and Rep. Kate Klunk, R-York, announced they plan to introduce legislation in that chamber calling for an audit of the child care subsidy programs.

“Pennsylvania’s taxpayers deserve assurance from a credible source that our state’s programs are well-managed by the Department of Human Services and not vulnerable to fraud and waste,” the lawmakers said in a memo seeking support for the planned bill.

Neither the House nor Senate version of the legislation have been formally introduced.

At the same time, hearings on the fraud concerns are on the horizon at the state Capitol, Sen. David Argall, R-Schuylkill, said in an interview.

“We are going to hold public hearings,” said Argall, the chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee. He said lawmakers are in the process of determining which committees will be involved in those convening those hearings.

Argall said that no hearings have been scheduled yet, but he believes that “the sooner (they are held), the better.”

Argall noted that efforts to combat fraud have typically enjoyed bipartisan support in Harrisburg. The budget deal signed by Gov. Josh Shapiro last month included anti-fraud initiatives originally in legislation authored by Argall, all of which were approved by the General Assembly with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Those anti-fraud measures included directing the Department of Human Services to routinely cross-reference death records with lists of public assistance recipients. That move came almost a decade after then-Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, now the chairman of the state Democratic Party, released a report revealing the Department of Human Services made $700,000 in payments to 2,300 dead people through Electronic Benefits Transfer cards in 2013 and 2014.

Another provision directs Human Services to check wage records from employers and the Department of Revenue to ensure that Medical Assistance benefits and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are being directed to people who qualify.

In 2024-25, the state Inspector General filed charges against almost 400 people, alleging they had illegally obtained almost $3 million in benefits, according to the office’s annual report.

In addition, Human Services must now complete an annual report detailing how the agency factors lottery winnings and the value of personal motor vehicles when determining if people are eligible for cash assistance.