$1 Million to $343 Million: Minnesota’s Autism Spending Explosion Demands Answers

Could things get any worse for Minnesota's elected officials?

In just nine years, autism-related spending in Minnesota ballooned from roughly $1 million to a jaw-dropping $343 million. That is not a typo. That is a more than 34,000 percent increase. Most of that surge happened under Democrat Governor Tim Walz.

🚨 HOLY SMOKES. Autism spending in Minnesota using taxpayer dollars has surged OVER 34,000% PERCENT in the past 9 years, most of which happened under Tim Walz

BEFORE: $1 million
2024: $343 MILLION 🤯

WALZ KNEW! He is criminally complicit and must be prosecuted! pic.twitter.com/52vHc9AnB7
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) February 26, 2026

We are not talking about a modest policy expansion. We are not talking about inflation. We are not even talking about a doubling or tripling of a program. We are talking about a spending rocket ship fueled by taxpayer dollars with almost no serious public alarm from the people who are supposed to guard the vault.

Before anyone starts screaming that this is an attack on children with autism, let’s be clear. Families who are walking the road of autism deserve support. They deserve real services. They deserve competent oversight and honest administration. However, they do not deserve to have their children used as cover for what increasingly looks like systemic fraud and grotesque mismanagement.

Minnesota’s Department of Human Services has been under scrutiny before. The massive Feeding Our Future scandal exposed how hundreds of millions in federal food aid were siphoned off in what prosecutors called one of the largest COVID fraud schemes in the nation. Read more about the scandal in this RedState column:

Minnesota’s SNAP Fraud Fiasco Is the Warning Shot States Can’t Ignore

That scandal alone should have triggered a culture shift inside state government. It should have sparked aggressive audits, internal reviews, and a sober reassessment of how public dollars flow out the door.

Instead, autism spending exploded.

From $1 million to $343 million in nine years.

Where was the oversight? Where were the red flags? Where were the emergency hearings?

When any program grows by 34,000 percent, the burden of proof falls on the people running it. Show us the data. Show us the eligibility standards. Show us the fraud prevention mechanisms. Show us that services actually improved at a scale that justifies that kind of spending surge.

Governor Walz cannot shrug this off. He was not a bystander. He was the chief executive of the state. Budgets crossed his desk. Reports crossed his desk. Leadership is not just about cutting ribbons and giving press conferences. Leadership is about stewardship. It is about guarding taxpayer money like it belongs to your own family, because it does.

Minnesotans work hard. They pay their taxes. They expect that money to be spent wisely, especially when it is earmarked for vulnerable children. If this surge reflects legitimate need and well-documented services, then prove it. Open the books. Invite independent audits. Demand transparency.

But if it reflects lax oversight, padded billing, or organized fraud exploiting a bloated reimbursement system, then the public deserves prosecutions, not press releases. This is not a partisan talking point. It is arithmetic.

When I see spending jump from $1 million to $343 million, I don't see a bookkeeping error. I see a fork in the road. Either we missed something massive on the front end and families were tragically underserved for years, or we are wildly overpaying now. Both possibilities bother me. Both demand real investigation, not political spin.

I am not a bureaucrat. I am a taxpayer. I work. I pay into the system. So when numbers look this outrageous, I think about the citizens whose needs have been neglected while politicians line their pockets.

The Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor exists for moments like this. Independent watchdogs are not decorative titles. They are supposed to dig, audit, verify, and if needed, expose. When citizens raise concerns about a 34,000 percent spike, they are not wearing tin foil hats. They are doing what grown adults do when the math does not add up.

I have watched enough government failures over the years to know how this works. When a system shows cracks, word travels fast. Bad actors talk to each other. Consultants figure out how to navigate the loopholes. Providers notice where oversight is thin. What starts as a gap becomes an opportunity.

And when leadership does not clamp down quickly and decisively, those opportunities turn into invitations.

Minnesota is becoming a case study for fraudulent programs and wasting taxpayer dollars. Now add a 34,000 percent spending spike in another taxpayer-funded program to the fat-growing list of fraudulent absurdities.

If Governor Walz knew and ignored warning signs, that is dereliction. If he did not know, that is incompetence. Neither is acceptable when hundreds of millions of dollars are on the line. Minnesotans should not have to wonder whether their hard-earned money is being weaponized by fraudsters. They should not have to question whether political leadership is more concerned with expanding programs than supervising them.

The solution here is not to gut services for families in need. The solution is sunlight. Full audits. Clear reporting. Hard questions asked in public, under oath if necessary. Oh yeah, and indictments. Lots of indictments.

Government exists to serve the people, not to become a playground for unchecked spending.

If the numbers are legitimate, prove it.

If they are not, prosecute.

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