Minnesota House Minority Leader Paul Thissen wants to break up the state's massive human services department into five separate agencies, each with its own leader.
The effort would be the most significant overhaul of the agency in recent history, designed to streamline delivery of services and increase accountability. Thissen's announcement comes the day after Gov. Mark Dayton's administration selected a new commissioner to oversee the embattled agency.
"It's really too big to manage and have one person be responsible and accountable for everything," said Thissen, DFL-Minneapolis.
While welcoming Emily Johnson Piper as the new commissioner, Thissen said the transition is a good time to consider changing an agency that serves more than 1 million Minnesotans.
"The solution is probably not found in a new organizational chart," said Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, who is chairman of the powerful House Health and Human Services Finance Committee. "It's probably found in new leadership and a change in culture."
The proposal's fate in the upcoming legislative session is uncertain, but it could emerge as the foundation of a major rethinking of the agency if DFLers win control of the Legislature in the next election.
The Department of Human Services has a two-year budget of $33.8 billion and more than 6,000 workers whose duties range from overseeing child protection to managing the Minnesota Sex Offender Program to providing health care for the needy. It oversees different populations, requiring vastly different skills.
"The Minnesota Sex Offender Program and delivering health care to poor people have nothing in common," Thissen said.