The Minnesota Senate, in a bipartisan vote, overwhelmingly passed a bill that would create a new, independent Office of Inspector General with broad powers to investigate government fraud, waste and abuse.

But, so far, it has not moved out of the State Government Committee in the House of Representatives.

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Rep. Patti Anderson, R-Dellwood, co-authored the Inspector General Bill. She told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS she hopes the bill moves into the Rules Committee Thursday and is then scheduled for a House floor vote before the session ends.

“And this isn’t a new idea. This exists in many other states,” said Anderson. “We need to allow this OIG to be completely independent. Independent of politics, independent of the legislature and independent of the Governor.”

Rep. Dave Pinto, DFL-St. Paul, told 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS there are still some things being looked at in the House bill, but he also seemed optimistic.

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“We’ve got to see what the budget allows and then identify if there is a consensus. I just think there are ongoing conversations about that,” said Pinto. “There’s so much happening to address concerns about fraud in state government and beyond.”