Legislator: Commerce Dept. shouldn't control energy grants

In the wake or revelations that a Minneapolis nonprofit misspent state and federal grant monies, a Republican in the Minnesota House wants to change oversight of the state's energy assistance grants.

State Rep. Tony Albright, R-Prior Lake, wants to transfer oversight of the funds from the Department of Commerce to the Department of Administration. Albright said he is concerned that Commerce Commissioner Mike Rothman continues to oversee the funds.

In December, Rothman asked the legislative auditor to investigate allegations that he disregarded requests from career staffers to terminate a contract with Community Action Minneapolis, a controversial non-profit that suspended its CEO, Bill Davis.

"While the commissioner is under investigation and also his agency, we still have to process claims, we still have to go out and investigate whether the need is there," Albright said. "And in order to do that, in an era of transparency and authenticity, we think it's much better to move that from Commerce to Administration."

Rothman said he placed Community Action of Minneapolis on a strict monitoring plan after the department discovered a misuse of weatherization funds in 2011. An emailed statement from the Commerce department said Albright's "assumption for the legislation is filled with inaccuracies."

"Contrary to Rep. Albright's statement, neither the Department nor Commissioner Rothman are under investigation by the OLA for alleged misuse of funds," said Commerce Department spokeswoman Libby Caulum. "Rather, Commissioner Rothman asked the OLA to look at the management and administration of the program related to Community Action of Minneapolis. He asked the OLA to do that, so a neutral party would look at the issue to provide an objective, non-partisan perspective."

The state shut down Community Action in September after discovering that Davis misspent hundreds of thousands of dollars.