# Federal nondiscrimination certifications of the State of Minnesota _The assurances, certifications, audit packages and reports in which the State of Minnesota represents its compliance with federal law, who signed each one, and which State instruments were in force when they did_ | Federal nondiscrimination certifications of the State of Minnesota | | |---|---| | Parent article | [[How Minnesota Got Here]] | | Signatures indexed | 62, audit years 2016–2025 and SAM.gov 2026 | | Signatures by role | 33 State signatures (29 auditee certifications, 4 SAM.gov registrations); 29 auditor signatures, 10 of them by State audit offices | | Filers | State of Minnesota (statewide single audit); Minnesota Housing Finance Agency; Minnesota Office of Higher Education; Minnesota Public Facilities Authority; Minnesota Management and Budget (SAM.gov) | | Federal expenditures certified, statewide, FY2016–FY2025 | $184,588,166,429 | | Adopting State instruments in force at signing | 20 (2016) rising to 27 (2026); none removed | | Findings in the FY2023–FY2025 statewide packages | 92 (38, 29 and 25), one of which concerns a federal equal-employment requirement | | Not yet collected | packages before 2016; grant assurances since 1965; EEO-4 reports; Justice Department EEO plans | | Status | child of a spine article; restates the record and sets out the readings; adjudicates nothing | **Federal nondiscrimination certifications of the State of Minnesota** are the written representations through which the [[Minnesota|State of Minnesota]], as an employer and as a recipient of federal money, tells the federal government that it complies with federal law forbidding discrimination because of race, color, national origin and sex, together with the audit packages and registrations that accompany them.[^1][^2][^3][^4] This article describes what each kind of paper says and who signs it, lists the 62 signatures the project has indexed from audit year 2016 forward, and records which of the State's own adopting instruments were in force on each signing date.[^5][^6] It is the child article for the section on the certification gap in [[How Minnesota Got Here]]. The parent article's organizing claim is that every such representation since 1967–1972 was made while Minnesota statutes, orders and rules required state agencies and contractors to act by race and sex.[^7] That claim is the parent article's analysis of the record, not a finding of any court or agency. No federal filing alleges that a Minnesota certification was false; the federal case closest to the subject, *[[United States v. State of Minnesota (affirmative-action hiring)|United States v. State of Minnesota]]*, asks whether the State's hiring machinery violates [[Title VII]].[^8][^9][^10] The project's disclosure index marks every one of its signatures, of whatever kind, "arguable" under its reading of the theory pleaded in that case, and labels the column analysis.[^11] Two documents in the index anchor the article. The audit-year 2025 statewide package, certified on March 31, 2026, reports $20,815,212,884 in federal expenditures and 25 federal-program findings, none of which concerns nondiscrimination.[^12][^13] The audit-year 2023 package contains the only finding, among the three statewide packages whose full text the project holds (audit years 2023–2025), that touches a federal equal-employment requirement: the [[Minnesota Department of Public Safety|Department of Public Safety]], required by its Justice Department awards to have and certify an Equal Employment Opportunity Program, used its affirmative-action plan to carry that information, and the auditor found the program incomplete.[^14] It is the one place in the federal paper the project holds where a federal equal-employment plan requirement and a State affirmative-action instrument appear on the same page.[^14][^5] ## Scope and method The article follows the method of its parent: the documents are described by what they require and represent, individuals appear only in official capacity, and the readings the record supports are stated side by side.[^15][^16] Signers are identified by title and office rather than by name; the names are in the Federal Audit Clearinghouse and SAM.gov records the footnotes link.[^5] Three distinctions run through the article. A **certification of nondiscrimination** — an assurance attached to a grant application or a registration — is a representation about compliance with nondiscrimination law. A **single-audit certification** attests an audit package: the State's financial statements and its compliance with the requirements the audit tests. An **equal-employment report or plan** discloses the composition of a workforce by race and sex without itself representing compliance.[^17][^4][^18][^19] The index holds 58 signatures of the second kind and four registrations whose financial-assistance certifications are on file but whose text the project has not yet pulled; the first kind before registration moved to SAM.gov, and the third kind, are listed under [[#Collecting the earlier record]].[^5][^6] The article also separates the State's own instruments from programs federal law required. The [[Disadvantaged Business Enterprise]] program, run by the State for transportation contracts, is required by 49 C.F.R. part 26; the federal contract clause required affirmative action of contractors from 1965 until 2025. Neither is counted among the State's adopting instruments.[^20][^21][^11] ## The federal requirements ### Title VI and the grant assurance (1964) [[Title VI]] of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] bars exclusion from, and discrimination in, any program receiving federal financial assistance on the ground of race, color or national origin.[^1] Each federal agency's implementing regulations make an assurance of compliance a condition of the assistance. The Department of Health and Human Services requires every application to carry or be accompanied by one; the Justice Department's regulations impose the same condition on its recipients; and the Federal Highway and Federal Transit Administrations collect Title VI assurances and annual certifications from state transportation agencies.[^22][^17][^23][^24][^25] The assurance runs with the money: it binds the recipient for as long as it uses the assistance.[^17] ### The federal contract clause (1965, 1967) and its revocation (2025) [[Executive Order 11246]] (1965) required every federal contract to carry an equal-opportunity clause. [[Executive Order 11375]] added sex on October 13, 1967. The clause's first sentence reads: "The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin."[^21] Its next sentence required the contractor to take affirmative action to ensure that applicants and employees were treated without regard to those characteristics, and the Labor Department enforced both, latterly through its Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, until the order's revocation.[^21][^26] [[Executive Order 14173]] revoked Executive Order 11246 on January 21, 2025.[^27][^28] The project's catalogue lists a continuity test for every state: which of its instruments cite Executive Order 11246, and which survived the revocation.[^6] ### Title VII reaches the State (1972) The [[Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972]] amended Title VII's definition of a person to insert "governments, governmental agencies, political subdivisions", and rewrote the definition of an employer, which had excluded the States, making the State a Title VII employer from that year.[^2] Under Title VII's recordkeeping section and 29 C.F.R. part 1602, state and local governments report their workforces by race, sex and job category on the EEO-4 form; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission publishes a public-use file of those reports for 2005–2023.[^18][^6] ### Title IX (1972) [[Title IX]] of the [[Education Amendments of 1972]] bars sex discrimination in federally funded education programs, and the Department of Education's regulations require an assurance from each recipient.[^3][^29] The Title IX question now before the federal court in Minnesota concerns the State High School League and the Department of Education.[^30][^31] ### The Justice Department's equal-employment plan Recipients of Justice Department assistance under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act, above the thresholds the regulations set, keep an Equal Employment Opportunity Program and certify it to the department's Office for Civil Rights under 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.301–.308; smaller recipients are exempt or file less.[^19] The plan is a disclosure of workforce composition and employment practices, by race, sex and national origin, together with an analysis of them.[^19][^14] The custodians are the Office of Justice Programs' Office for Civil Rights and the state agency that receives the award.[^6] ### The single audit (1984) The [[Single Audit Act of 1984]] and its regulations, now 2 C.F.R. part 200, subpart F, require a state that spends federal awards above the threshold to file an annual audit of those expenditures with the [[Federal Audit Clearinghouse]].[^4] The package contains the auditor's opinions, the schedule of federal expenditures, the findings and the auditee's corrective action plans; an authorized official of the auditee certifies the package on submission, and the auditor certifies its own part.[^4][^11] The compliance tests run by type of requirement — activities allowed, allowable costs, eligibility, reporting, subrecipient monitoring, special tests and provisions — and a federal program's own special tests can include a civil-rights condition such as the Justice Department's equal-employment plan.[^13][^14] ### SAM.gov registration A state entity that applies for federal assistance registers in [[SAM.gov]], and its entity record carries the financial-assistance certifications on file for that registrant.[^32] The project's index records four Minnesota registrations submitted in 2026, each with financial-assistance certifications on file (five fields in the record); the text of those certifications as of each submission has not yet been pulled.[^5] ### Programs the federal government required Some group-conscious programs the State runs are federal requirements, not State instruments. The [[Disadvantaged Business Enterprise]] program for recipients of Department of Transportation funds is required by 49 C.F.R. part 26; the department revised the program by an interim rule of October 3, 2025 and a final rule published September 25, 2026, and the project's catalogue records a reevaluation deadline of December 24, 2026 for the state certifying programs.[^20][^33][^6] Until January 2025 the federal contract clause itself required affirmative action of contractors.[^21][^27] ## Kinds of federal paper | Paper | Legal basis | What the State represents or reports | Who signs for the State | Where held | Project coverage | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Title VI assurance | Title VI (1964); each agency's regulations, e.g. 45 C.F.R. § 80.4, 28 C.F.R. part 42, subpart C | compliance with Title VI in the assisted program | the applicant agency's authorized official | the awarding agency's grant file | not collected | | Title IX assurance | Title IX (1972); 34 C.F.R. part 106 | compliance with Title IX in the education program | the recipient | the Department of Education | not collected | | Transportation Title VI assurance and annual certifications | FHWA and FTA programs | Title VI compliance; program certifications | the state transportation agency | FHWA, FTA | not collected | | Federal contract clause | Executive Order 11246 (1965–2025) | nondiscrimination and affirmative action by the contractor | the contracting agency | the contract file; OFCCP | not collected | | EEO-4 report | Title VII § 709(c); 29 C.F.R. part 1602 | workforce by race, sex and job category | the employer | EEOC (public-use file 2005–2023) | not collected | | Equal Employment Opportunity Program | 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.301–.308 | workforce and practices analysis; certified to the Justice Department | the recipient agency | Justice Department Office for Civil Rights; the agency | one audit finding (2023-033) | | Single-audit package | Single Audit Act; 2 C.F.R. part 200, subpart F | the audit of federal expenditures, findings and corrective actions | an authorized official; the auditor | Federal Audit Clearinghouse | 29 auditee and 29 auditor certifications, 2016–2025 | | SAM.gov registration | 2 C.F.R. part 25; FFATA | entity data and financial-assistance certifications | the registering official | SAM.gov | 4 registrations, 2026 | The table follows the project's catalogue of federal disclosure systems; the rows marked "not collected" are the subject of [[#Collecting the earlier record]].[^6][^11] ## The indexed signatures, 2016–2026 The disclosure index draws on the Federal Audit Clearinghouse's public API, which begins with audit year 2016, and on SAM.gov entity records. It keeps two tiers of filer: the consolidated statewide audit, and named state agencies and authorities that file their own packages.[^11][^34] The [[University of Minnesota]], whose Regents file separately, is not yet in it.[^6] ### The statewide single audit The statewide package is the State of Minnesota's own filing (UEI PYK7WKBV8DJ5). For every audit year in the index it was certified for the State by an assistant commissioner; the auditor's certification is recorded from the [[Office of the Legislative Auditor (Minnesota)|Office of the Legislative Auditor]] for audit years 2016–2020 and from the State Auditor of the [[Office of the State Auditor|Office of the State Auditor]] for 2021–2025.[^5][^35][^12] | Audit year | Certified (auditee / auditor) | Federal expenditures | Summary flags in the FAC record | Adopting instruments in force | |---|---|---|---|---| | 2016 | Aug. 1, 2017 / Aug. 1, 2017 | $12,741,916,448 | material weakness | 20 | | 2017 | June 29, 2018 / July 12, 2018 | $12,704,587,841 | none | 20 | | 2018 | Mar. 27, 2019 / Mar. 27, 2019 | $13,270,015,978 | material weakness | 21 | | 2019 | Mar. 31, 2020 / Mar. 31, 2020 | $13,733,932,910 | material weakness; significant deficiency | 21 | | 2020 | May 6, 2021 / May 7, 2021 | $19,780,056,792 | material weakness; significant deficiency | 21 | | 2021 | May 17, 2022 / May 18, 2022 | $25,922,654,946 | material weakness; significant deficiency | 21 | | 2022 | Mar. 29, 2023 / Mar. 29, 2023 | $24,219,799,366 | material weakness | 21 | | 2023 | Mar. 28, 2024 / Mar. 28, 2024 | $21,287,886,811 | material weakness | 21 | | 2024 | Mar. 28, 2025 / Mar. 28, 2025 | $20,112,102,453 | significant deficiency | 25 | | 2025 | Mar. 31, 2026 / Mar. 31, 2026 | $20,815,212,884 | material noncompliance; material weakness; significant deficiency | 27 | The ten packages total $184,588,166,429.[^35][^36][^37][^38][^39][^40][^41][^42][^43][^12] Expenditures rose by 44 percent between audit years 2019 and 2020 and peaked in 2021, the years of the federal pandemic-relief programs that run through the findings of the later packages.[^5][^13] Separately, the House Oversight Committee's majority staff report recommends that the Justice Department and other agencies review Minnesota's social-services reimbursements and enrollment verification from 2019 to the present.[^44] The summary flags are the FAC record's own; the federal-program findings, treated below, are separate entries in each package.[^11][^13] ### Agency and authority audits Three state bodies in the index file their own packages: the [[Minnesota Housing Finance Agency]], the [[Minnesota Office of Higher Education]] and the [[Minnesota Public Facilities Authority]].[^5] | Filer | Audit years in the index | Federal expenditures (range) | Auditor of record | Summary flags | |---|---|---|---|---| | Minnesota Housing Finance Agency | 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 | $206,257,451 (2016) to $801,771,445 (2022) | RSM US LLP | low-risk auditee in 2016, 2017, 2021 and 2022; significant deficiency in 2022; material weakness and significant deficiency in 2024 | | Minnesota Office of Higher Education | 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 | $2,766,355 (2018) to $5,453,038 (2023) | Baker Tilly | low-risk auditee in every year | | Minnesota Public Facilities Authority | 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 | $32,423,091 (2021) to $103,883,298 (2025) | RSM US LLP (2019–2023); CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (2024–2025) | low-risk auditee in every year | The Housing Finance Agency's audit-year 2024 package carries two findings, both material weaknesses, on its emergency rental assistance, HOME and homeowner-assistance programs (the first also covering the housing trust fund): one on the presentation of the schedule of expenditures of federal awards and one on allowable costs.[^45] Its 2022 package, the largest at $801.8 million, was flagged for a significant deficiency.[^46] The agency audits account for 38 of the 58 audit signatures in the index.[^5][^47][^48][^49][^50][^51] ### SAM.gov registrations, 2026 | Registrant | UEI | Purpose | Submitted | Signing title in the record | |---|---|---|---|---| | State of Minnesota – Minnesota Management and Budget | PYK7WKBV8DJ5 | Federal Assistance Awards | Sept. 29, 2026 | Fiscal Services Director | | Minnesota Housing Finance Agency | KGAPBAMK58L3 | All Awards | Aug. 21, 2026 | government business point of contact | | Minnesota Office of Higher Education | LGLBBMK4FLD6 | Federal Assistance Awards | Apr. 30, 2026 | (title not recorded) | | Minnesota Public Facilities Authority | W2JLALYVUYH8 | Federal Assistance Awards | Feb. 5, 2026 | Chief Financial Officer | Each record carries the registrant's financial-assistance certifications.[^32][^52][^53][^54] Registrations are renewed on a recurring cycle, so the 2026 dates reflect that cycle; the record shows no connection between their timing and the federal litigation.[^5] ## Findings in the statewide packages The project holds the full text of the statewide packages for audit years 2023, 2024 and 2025: 92 federal-program findings in all.[^55][^56][^13] | Audit year | Findings | Material weaknesses | Modified opinions | Repeat findings | With questioned costs | Findings concerning a civil-rights requirement | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | 2023 | 38 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 5 | 1 (2023-033) | | 2024 | 29 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 0 | | 2025 | 25 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 0 | The audit-year 2025 findings run from 2025-002 to 2025-026 and concern the Departments of Commerce, Employment and Economic Development, Health, and Human Services, the new Department of Children, Youth, and Families, and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities.[^13] They test reporting, eligibility, subrecipient monitoring, allowable costs and program-specific special tests — Medicaid eligibility, the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and child-care eligibility systems, foster-care reporting and rate setting, workforce-program monitoring, student-loan reporting — and the largest questioned-cost figure, $36,533,425, attaches to the foster-care quarterly financial report.[^13] The Medicaid program alone accounts for $12,254,700,636 of the year's federal expenditures.[^13] None of the twenty-five concerns nondiscrimination.[^13] ### Finding 2023-033: the equal-employment plan Finding 2023-033 in the audit-year 2023 package, "Special Tests and Provisions – Equal Employment Opportunity Program (EEOP)", concerns the Crime Victim Assistance program, on which the Department of Public Safety spent $33,002,312.[^14] The auditor's context statement records that the department's award agreements with the Justice Department require its Office of Justice Programs "to have and certify an EEOP in accordance with federal regulations", and that "The Minnesota Department of Public Safety uses the Affirmative Action Plan to capture the equal employment opportunity information."[^14] The auditor found the plan missing required elements — an analysis of promotion, transfer, training and selection procedures, counts by race, sex and national origin (if available) of applicants, hires, promotions, discipline and terminations, and the area's labor-market characteristics — and concluded that the department "is not in compliance with Title 28 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations § 42 Subpart E."[^14][^19] The cause given was that the department "does not track the data necessary for inclusion in the EEOP because equal employment opportunity information has been included in the Department of Public Safety's Affirmative Action Plan."[^14] The department concurred. Its corrective action plan, naming its director of internal affairs and affirmative action as the person responsible, stated that the missing analyses would go into its 2024–2026 Affirmative Action Plan, with an anticipated completion date of June 30, 2024.[^14] The finding is a significant deficiency with no questioned costs.[^14] What it documents is the junction the parent article describes: a federal certification requirement for an equal-employment program, carried in the State's practice by the State's affirmative-action plan — a plan kept under the statutory regime, § 43A.191, that the United States now challenges under Title VII.[^14][^8][^57] It records neither discrimination nor a false certification; it records that the two instruments were the same document.[^14] ## State instruments in force at each signing ### How the index counts For each signing date the disclosure index reads the project's instrument data and records whether an adopting affirmative-action or diversity instrument of the State was in force, and how many.[^11] Separately, it lists by identifier the instruments in force whose full text the project's reading step determined "gives a preference by group", under a stated rule of erring toward inclusion and leaving adjudication for later.[^11] The two figures differ by one from November 2019 forward, when Executive Order 19-15 enters the list without raising the in-force count; the list should be read as the project's determination and the count as the conservative figure. Every row also notes one instrument whose text has not yet been read, so the list is a floor. Executive Order 19-15 concerns state employment of people with disabilities, a class outside Titles VI, VII and IX.[^5][^58] ### The baseline and its growth At the first indexed signing, on October 4, 2016, twenty instruments were in force.[^5] The dated ones run from 1974 to 2016; several statutes, rules and procedures carry no date in the instrument index: - **Orders:** [[Executive Order 76- Providing for the Establishment of an Affirmative Action Program in all State Agencies|Executive Order 76]] (Anderson, 1974), [[Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council|Executive Order 85-12]] (Perpich, 1985) and [[Executive Order 16-01 Establishing the Diversity and Inclusion Council; Rescinding Executive Order 15-02|Executive Order 16-01]] (Dayton, 2016).[^59][^60][^61] - **Statutes:** [[Laws 1981, ch. 210, chapter 43A vessel|Laws 1981, chapter 210]] and its sections [[Minn. Stat. §43A.01 Policies|§ 43A.01]], § 43A.04 and § 43A.36; [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]]; the contractor certificate-of-compliance sections [[363A.36 CERTIFICATES OF COMPLIANCE FOR PUBLIC CONTRACTS|§ 363A.36]] and [[Sec. 363A.37 Certificates of compliance|§ 363A.37]]; and the Metropolitan Council's [[473.143 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLANS|§ 473.143]].[^62][^57][^63][^64] - **Rules:** [[CHAPTER 3905 DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND BUDGET STATE AGENCIES; AFFIRMATIVE ACTION|Minn. R. ch. 3905]], including [[Requirements for agency affirmative action plans|rule 3905.0400]] and rule 3905.0100, and [[Minn. R. ch. 5000, Department of Human Rights, Complaints; Procedures; Compliance|Minn. R. ch. 5000]], including [[5000.3420 AFFIRMATIVE ACTION PLANS; CONTRACTORS|rule 5000.3420]].[^65][^66] - **Management and Budget procedures:** [[HR-LR Policy -1434, Recruitment and Selection|HR/LR Policy #1434, Recruitment and Selection]], [[Administrative Procedure 19.2 - Affirmative Action Audit Process]], [[Administrative Procedure 9A — Recruitment]] and [[HR-LR Policy and Procedure -1379 Affirmative Action Officers|HR/LR Policy and Procedure #1379, Affirmative Action Officers]].[^67] Four changes followed, and nothing left the list: | Date first in the index | Instruments counted (listed) | Added | |---|---|---| | Oct. 4, 2016 | 20 | the baseline above | | Mar. 27, 2019 | 21 | [[Executive Order 19-01]] (Walz, Jan. 9, 2019) | | Nov. 1, 2019 | 21 (22 listed) | [[Executive Order 19-15; Rescinding Executive Order 14-14: Providing for Increased State Employment of Individuals with Disabilities|Executive Order 19-15]] (Apr. 1, 2019), listed but not counted; a disability-employment order | | Dec. 19, 2024 | 25 (26 listed) | the 2024–2026 affirmative-action plans of the Departments of Human Services, Human Rights, and Employment and Economic Development, and of Minnesota IT Services | | Feb. 5, 2026 | 27 (28 listed) | Management and Budget's [[Affirmative Action Monitoring the Hiring Process (MHP) Form|Monitoring the Hiring Process form]] and the [[State of Minnesota Executive Branch Affirmative Action Biennial Report (FY2023-2024)|executive branch affirmative-action biennial report for FY2023–2024]] | The changes are read from the index's rows and the instruments' own dates. The 2024–2026 agency plans enter at a December 2024 signing although the DEED plan was filed with the Legislative Reference Library in February 2025; the index appears to count plans from the start of their July 1, 2024 period.[^5][^68][^58][^69] See [[Department of Human Services Affirmative Action Plan, July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026]], [[Minnesota Department of Human Rights Affirmative Action Plan]], [[DEED Affirmative Action Plan, July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026]] and [[Minnesota IT Services Affirmative Action Plan, July 1, 2024 - June 30, 2026]]. The Monitoring the Hiring Process form is the procedure the United States' complaint quotes alongside § 43A.191, subdivision 3(c): where "there is an underutilization of a protected group in a job category", the hiring manager must "justify its nonaffirmative action hires".[^8] The index first counts it at a signing in February 2026, the Public Facilities Authority's SAM.gov registration; the form itself is older, and its adoption date is listed under [[#Open items]].[^5][^67] ## The federal money The single audits measure what the State spent. USAspending measures what federal agencies obligated to every recipient in Minnesota — state agencies, universities, nonprofits and companies — and is a different and much larger population.[^70] | Fiscal year | Prime award obligations to recipients in Minnesota | Awards | |---|---|---| | FY2016 | $82,359,972,220 | 125,087 | | FY2019 | $118,424,558,727 | 367,938 | | FY2021 | $182,657,760,190 | 667,798 | | FY2025 | $242,138,756,647 | 235,989 | | FY2026 | $245,444,018,084 | 177,998 | The figures are USAspending's state profiles as the index retrieved them on October 25, 2026.[^71][^72][^73][^74][^75] The two series should not be added or compared year for year. USAspending's totals include procurement contracts, loans and direct payments as well as the financial assistance Title VI conditions, so they show the scale of the federal relationship rather than the money any one assurance covers.[^70][^6][^1] ## The two readings **The United States' theory.** In *United States v. State of Minnesota*, the United States contends, through the textual reading of Title VII in *[[Bostock v. Clayton County]]*, that a hiring regime keyed to underrepresentation discriminates because of race and sex.[^8][^76] The Supreme Court held in 2025 that Title VII "draws no distinctions between majority-group plaintiffs and minority-group plaintiffs".[^77] **The project's analysis.** The disclosure index carries that theory one step beyond the complaint, which concerns hiring and not certifications: it marks every signature it holds "arguable" — in tension with the regime in force, not shown false — and labels the column analysis.[^11] The parent article frames the series, with the decades of assurances behind it, as one representation renewed each year while the State's adopting instruments accumulated.[^7][^5] **The defense reading.** The first answer is in the index itself: 58 of its 62 signatures attest single-audit packages, which are not nondiscrimination certifications, and 29 are auditors' signatures; only the four SAM.gov registrations carry certifications of the kind the claim concerns, and their text is not yet in hand.[^5][^4] Beyond that, for most of the period federal law did not merely tolerate the State's instruments; parts of it required their like. The federal contract clause obliged contractors to take affirmative action until January 2025, the Justice Department's equal-employment plan asks recipients to analyze their workforces by race and sex, and the transportation DBE program is a federal mandate.[^21][^19][^20] Under *[[Johnson v. Transportation Agency]]* (1987) a voluntary plan addressing a manifest imbalance could be lawful under Title VII.[^78] Finding 2023-033 shows a State agency using its affirmative-action plan to carry a federal equal-employment certification requirement — the federal and State instruments working as one document, not against each other, even where the auditor found the plan incomplete.[^14] On that reading each certification was true under federal law as then read and administered, and the 2025 revocation of Executive Order 11246 ended the federal contractor obligation without converting earlier representations into false ones.[^27][^28] **What is undecided.** The three-judge court has the Title VII question. No court or agency has been asked whether any certification was false, and the parent article does not ask this one to decide it.[^9][^10] ## Collecting the earlier record The claim reaches back to 1967–1972; the documents in hand begin in 2016. The project's catalogue identifies where the rest is held.[^6][^11] | Paper | Years | Where it is | Route | |---|---|---|---| | [[Single audits of the State of Minnesota, 1998–2015]] | 1998–2015 | Federal Audit Clearinghouse Census-era bulk files | place the files in the archive's `_discovery/fac_historic/` and rerun the index | | [[Single audits of the State of Minnesota, 1984–1997]] | 1984–1997 | not in any FAC dataset | the Legislative Auditor's published financial-audit reports; state archives | | [[Title VI assurances of the State of Minnesota]] and [[Title IX assurances of the State of Minnesota]] | 1965 onward | each awarding agency's grant files | records requests to the awarding agencies; the State's own grant files | | [[Transportation civil-rights certifications of the State of Minnesota]] (Title VI assurances, annual certifications, DBE goals) | 1970s onward | FHWA, FTA, the state transportation department | agency requests; published DBE program plans | | [[EEO-4 reports of the State of Minnesota]] | 1970s onward | EEOC (public-use file 2005–2023) | download the public-use file; request earlier years | | [[Equal Employment Opportunity Program certifications of the State of Minnesota]] | 1970s onward | Justice Department Office for Civil Rights; recipient agencies | the project's records-request template | | [[Executive Order 11246 in Minnesota state contracts]] | 1965–2025 | contracting agencies; OFCCP | agency requests | | [[Single audits of the University of Minnesota]] | all years | Federal Audit Clearinghouse (filed by the Regents) | add the Regents as a filer | | [[SAM.gov registrations of the State of Minnesota]] | SAM.gov and its predecessor registries | SAM.gov entity records | entity API with a key | The rows follow the project's catalogue of federal disclosure systems and the index's coverage note.[^6][^11][^18][^19][^24][^25][^33][^79] Each row's title is a planned article in the red-link work list below. ## Open items - **The pre-2016 layer.** Every row of the table above is uncollected.[^11] - **The summary flags.** The FAC record's summary flags and the per-program findings are separate measures; which level each flag reports is to be confirmed against the FAC data dictionary before the flags are compared across years.[^11][^34] - **The listed-versus-counted difference.** The in-force count and the instrument list differ by one from November 2019; the cause is to be traced in the instrument data.[^5] - **The Monitoring the Hiring Process form.** Its adoption date and the dates of the Management and Budget procedures are not in the instrument index.[^67] - **The auditor of record.** The FAC record lists the Legislative Auditor's office as certifying auditor for audit years 2016–2020 and the State Auditor for 2021–2025; the division of the statewide audit between the two offices is to be confirmed.[^5] - **The SAM.gov certification text.** The index records five certification fields per registration without their text; the text in force on each submission date is to be pulled.[^5][^32] - **The DBE revisions.** The effect of the October 2025 interim rule and the September 2026 final rule on Minnesota's DBE program, and on its reevaluation deadline of December 24, 2026, is to be documented.[^33][^6] - **The continuity test.** Which Minnesota instruments cite Executive Order 11246, and what became of them after its revocation, is not yet run.[^6] ## Red-link work list Titles linked from this article that the wiki does not have yet, grouped by project; the cross-spine list is `_spines/redlinks.tsv`. - **The pre-2016 certification layer (collection projects):** [[Single audits of the State of Minnesota, 1998–2015]] · [[Single audits of the State of Minnesota, 1984–1997]] · [[Single audits of the University of Minnesota]] · [[Title VI assurances of the State of Minnesota]] · [[Title IX assurances of the State of Minnesota]] · [[Transportation civil-rights certifications of the State of Minnesota]] · [[EEO-4 reports of the State of Minnesota]] · [[Equal Employment Opportunity Program certifications of the State of Minnesota]] · [[Executive Order 11246 in Minnesota state contracts]] · [[SAM.gov registrations of the State of Minnesota]] - **Federal law and systems:** [[Executive Order 11375]] · [[Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972]] · [[Education Amendments of 1972]] · [[Single Audit Act of 1984]] · [[SAM.gov]] · [[Disadvantaged Business Enterprise]] · [[Johnson v. Transportation Agency]] - **Minnesota agencies:** [[Minnesota Department of Public Safety]] ## See also - [[How Minnesota Got Here]] - [[Minn. Stat. § 43A.191]] - [[Pre-Hire Justification policy]] - [[United States v. State of Minnesota (affirmative-action hiring)]] - [[Federal Audit Clearinghouse]] - [[Half Truth Reports]] - [[Minnesota Affirmative Action Regime]] ## Notes [^1]: Civil Rights Act of 1964, Pub. L. 88-352, 78 Stat. 241, Title VI, § 601 — no exclusion from, or discrimination in, federally assisted programs on the ground of race, color, or national origin. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-78/pdf/STATUTE-78-Pg241.pdf [^2]: Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, Pub. L. 92-261, 86 Stat. 103, § 2 — amends the Title VII definition of "person" to include governments, governmental agencies and political subdivisions. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg103.pdf [^3]: Education Amendments of 1972, Pub. L. 92-318, 86 Stat. 235, Title IX, § 901 — sex discrimination in federally funded education programs. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-86/pdf/STATUTE-86-Pg235.pdf [^4]: 2 C.F.R. part 200, subpart F (Audit Requirements) — the single audit, the reporting package and the auditee's certification on submission. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-2/subtitle-A/chapter-II/part-200/subpart-F [^5]: Minnesota record, *Minnesota — Federal disclosures: who signed what, when* (disclosure index, generated Oct. 26, 2026) — the 62 signature rows: signing date, signer's title, role (auditee, auditor, registrant), filer, federal expenditures, the FAC summary flags, and the adopting instruments the project's data counts as in force on the signing date. Project file `States/MN/Drafts/Disclosures/MN_Federal_Disclosures_by_Year.md`. [^6]: Minnesota record, *Federal disclosure catalog* (`_inputs/FEDERAL_DISCLOSURE_CATALOG.csv`, verified Oct. 21, 2026) — systems FD01–FD26 with legal basis, entry point, verification note and custodian. https://api.fac.gov/ [^7]: Minnesota wiki, *How Minnesota Got Here* (spine article, Oct. 28, 2026), section on the certification gap — the organizing claim, stated as the article's analysis of the disclosure index, with the defense reading beside it. [^8]: Complaint, *United States v. State of Minnesota*, No. 0:26-cv-00273 (D. Minn. filed Jan. 14, 2026), Title VII §§ 703(a)(1)–(2), with the Department of Human Services hiring-justification policy as Exhibit B; the complaint cites Minn. Stat. § 43A.191. https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1423361/dl [^9]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. Minnesota* (case 47712) — docket, three-judge district court, status. https://clearinghouse.net/case/47712/ [^10]: Minnesota record, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified companion, June 18, 2026), §1 — the two enforcement lanes: the civil lane sues the quotable text; the criminal and referral lane proves knowledge and benefit; neither cites the other's instruments. [^11]: Minnesota record, *Minnesota — Federal disclosures: who signed what, when* (disclosure index, generated Oct. 26, 2026), method paragraph — FAC coverage from audit year 2016; Census-era bulk files for 1998–2015; no FAC dataset for 1984–1997; no single audits before 1984; the instrument column read from the project's instrument data; the "arguable conflict" column labeled analysis; the conflicting-instrument list a determination made under the rule "err toward yes, adjudication later". [^12]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2025 (report 2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408110) — $20,815,212,884 in federal expenditures; auditor flags material noncompliance, material weakness, significant deficiency; certified Mar. 31, 2026. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408110 [^13]: Minnesota record, *State of Minnesota single audit FY2025* (2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408110), findings in the filer's verbatim text — 25 findings, numbered 2025-002 to 2025-026. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408110 [^14]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, State of Minnesota single audit FY2023 (2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444), finding 2023-033, "Special Tests and Provisions – Equal Employment Opportunity Program (EEOP)," Crime Victim Assistance (ALN 16.575), Department of Public Safety, with the corrective action plan. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444 [^15]: Minnesota record, *How Minnesota Got Here — Minnesota's Administrative Discrimination Regime* (merged master, footnoted; compiled June 12, refreshed June 19, 2026), preface and §0 — the discipline (structural claims about institutions; individuals in official capacity only; verdicts reserved to the grand jury, the court and the Division) and the two readings built to be cited by both sides. [^16]: Minnesota record, *The Instrument No One Will Name* (densified companion, June 18, 2026), opening register and method note — combative to the game, critical of each team, neutral on the players; judges the container, never the merits; "symmetric or void". [^17]: 45 C.F.R. § 80.4 — the assurance that must accompany every application for federal financial assistance. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-80/section-80.4 [^18]: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, EEO-4 (State and Local Government Information) report statistics — the workforce report by race, sex and job category (Title VII § 709(c); 29 C.F.R. part 1602). https://www.eeoc.gov/data/eeo-4-state-and-local-government-information-report-statistics [^19]: 28 C.F.R. §§ 42.301–.308 (part 42, subpart E) — Equal Employment Opportunity Program guidelines for recipients of Justice Department assistance; § 42.302 as published in the eCFR. https://www.ecfr.gov/api/versioner/v1/full/2026-10-01/title-28.xml?part=42&section=42.302 [^20]: 49 C.F.R. part 26 — the federally required Disadvantaged Business Enterprise program for recipients of Department of Transportation funds. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-49/subtitle-A/part-26 [^21]: Executive Order 11246 (Sept. 24, 1965), as amended by Executive Order 11375 (Oct. 13, 1967), National Archives codification — the equal-opportunity clause of every federal contract. https://www.archives.gov/federal-register/codification/executive-order/11246.html "The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin." [^22]: 45 C.F.R. part 80 (HHS, nondiscrimination in federally assisted programs under Title VI). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-45/subtitle-A/subchapter-A/part-80 [^23]: 28 C.F.R. part 42, subpart C — the Justice Department's Title VI regulations for federally assisted programs, including the recipient's assurance. https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-28/chapter-I/part-42/subpart-C [^24]: Federal Highway Administration, Title VI program — state DOT Title VI assurances and annual updates. https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/civilrights/programs/civil-rights/title_vi/ [^25]: Federal Transit Administration, "Certifications and Assurances" — the annual certifications grantees submit. https://www.transit.dot.gov/funding/grantee-resources/certifications-and-assurances/certifications-assurances [^26]: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, "History." https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/about/history [^27]: Executive Order 14173, "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity," 90 Fed. Reg. 8633 (Jan. 31, 2025) — § 3(b)(i) revokes Executive Order 11246. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-01-31/pdf/2025-02097.pdf [^28]: Federal Register, Executive Order 14173, "Ending Illegal Discrimination and Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity" (Jan. 31, 2025) — § 3(b)(i) revokes Executive Order 11246. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/01/31/2025-02097/ending-illegal-discrimination-and-restoring-merit-based-opportunity [^29]: 34 C.F.R. part 106 (Department of Education Title IX regulations, including the recipient's assurance). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-34/subtitle-B/chapter-I/part-106 [^30]: Complaint, *United States v. Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota State High School League*, No. 0:26-cv-02078 (D. Minn. filed Mar. 30, 2026). https://www.justice.gov/crt/media/1433251/dl [^31]: Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, *United States v. Minnesota Department of Education* (case 48004). https://clearinghouse.net/case/48004/ [^32]: SAM.gov entity registration, State of Minnesota — Minnesota Management and Budget (UEI PYK7WKBV8DJ5), purpose Federal Assistance Awards, submitted Sept. 29, 2026, financial-assistance certifications on file. https://sam.gov/entity/PYK7WKBV8DJ5 [^33]: Federal Register, "Disadvantaged Business Enterprise and Airport Concession Disadvantaged Business Enterprise Program" (final rule, 91 Fed. Reg. 60885, Sept. 25, 2026), following the interim rule at 90 Fed. Reg. 47969 (Oct. 3, 2025). https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/09/25/2026-19688/disadvantaged-business-enterprise-and-airport-concession-disadvantaged-business-enterprise-program [^34]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse API (GSA). https://api.fac.gov/ [^35]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2016 (report 2016-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2016-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^36]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, State of Minnesota, audit year 2017 (2017-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2017-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^37]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, State of Minnesota, audit year 2018 (2018-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2018-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^38]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2019 (report 2019-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2019-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^39]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, State of Minnesota, audit year 2020 (2020-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2020-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^40]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2021 (report 2021-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2021-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^41]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, State of Minnesota, audit year 2022 (2022-06-CENSUS-0000150662). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2022-06-CENSUS-0000150662 [^42]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2023 (report 2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444 [^43]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit, State of Minnesota, audit year 2024 (report 2024-06-GSAFAC-0000358304). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2024-06-GSAFAC-0000358304 [^44]: House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, majority staff, *The Cost of Doing Nothing* (final staff report, June 2026; 205 numbered pages). https://oversight.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/MN-Fraud-Final-Staff-Report.pdf [^45]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, audit year 2024 (2024-06-GSAFAC-0000344408) — two findings. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2024-06-GSAFAC-0000344408 [^46]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, audit year 2022 (2022-06-CENSUS-0000150667). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2022-06-CENSUS-0000150667 [^47]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, audit year 2016 (2016-06-CENSUS-0000150667). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2016-06-CENSUS-0000150667 [^48]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Office of Higher Education, audit year 2017 (2017-06-CENSUS-0000181366). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2017-06-CENSUS-0000181366 [^49]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Office of Higher Education, audit year 2023 (2023-06-GSAFAC-0000018839). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2023-06-GSAFAC-0000018839 [^50]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Public Facilities Authority, audit year 2019 (2019-06-CENSUS-0000197066). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2019-06-CENSUS-0000197066 [^51]: Federal Audit Clearinghouse, single audit summary, Minnesota Public Facilities Authority, audit year 2025 (2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408935). https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2025-06-GSAFAC-0000408935 [^52]: SAM.gov entity registration, Minnesota Housing Finance Agency (UEI KGAPBAMK58L3), purpose All Awards, submitted Aug. 21, 2026. https://sam.gov/entity/KGAPBAMK58L3 [^53]: SAM.gov entity registration, Minnesota Office of Higher Education (UEI LGLBBMK4FLD6), submitted Apr. 30, 2026. https://sam.gov/entity/LGLBBMK4FLD6 [^54]: SAM.gov entity registration, Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (UEI W2JLALYVUYH8), submitted Feb. 5, 2026. https://sam.gov/entity/W2JLALYVUYH8 [^55]: Minnesota record, *State of Minnesota single audit FY2023* (2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444), findings in the filer's verbatim text — 38 findings. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2023-06-GSAFAC-0000029444 [^56]: Minnesota record, *State of Minnesota single audit FY2024* (2024-06-GSAFAC-0000358304), findings in the filer's verbatim text — 29 findings. https://app.fac.gov/dissemination/summary/2024-06-GSAFAC-0000358304 [^57]: Minn. Stat. § 43A.191, "Agency Affirmative Action Programs," with history line. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/43A.191 [^58]: Governor Tim Walz, Executive Order 19-15, rescinding Executive Order 14-14 on state employment of individuals with disabilities (Apr. 1, 2019). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/19-15.pdf [^59]: Governor Wendell R. Anderson, Executive Order No. 76, "Providing for the Establishment of an Affirmative Action Program in all State Agencies" (1974), Legislative Reference Library. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/74-76.pdf [^60]: Governor Rudy Perpich, Executive Order No. 85-12, "Providing for a State Affirmative Action Council" (May 1, 1985), Legislative Reference Library. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/85-12.pdf [^61]: Governor Mark Dayton, Executive Order 16-01, establishing the Diversity and Inclusion Council (2016), Legislative Reference Library. https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/16-01.pdf [^62]: Laws of Minnesota 1981, ch. 210 (S.F. No. 876) — the state personnel act creating chapter 43A; approved May 15, 1981. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/laws/1981/0/Session+Law/Chapter/210/pdf/ [^63]: Minn. Stat. § 363A.36 — certificates of compliance (affirmative-action plans) required of state contractors. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/363A.36 [^64]: Minn. Stat. § 473.143 — Metropolitan Council affirmative-action plans. https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/473.143 [^65]: Minn. R. ch. 3905 (Management and Budget, state agencies; affirmative action). https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/3905/ [^66]: Minn. R. 5000.3420, "Affirmative Action Plans; Contractors." https://www.revisor.mn.gov/rules/5000.3420/ [^67]: Minnesota record, Minnesota instrument index (`instruments_MN.tsv`, 83 rows) — identifiers, titles, dates and signers of the State's adopting instruments and related bills. [^68]: Governor Tim Walz, Executive Order 19-01, establishing the One Minnesota Council on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity (Jan. 9, 2019). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/archive/execorders/19-01.pdf [^69]: Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, *Affirmative Action Plan, July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2026*, filed with the Legislative Reference Library (Feb. 7, 2025). https://www.lrl.mn.gov/docs/2025/Mandated/250382.pdf [^70]: Minnesota record, *Minnesota — Federal disclosures: who signed what, when* (disclosure index, generated Oct. 26, 2026), USAspending table — prime award obligations to all recipients in Minnesota by fiscal year, FY2008–FY2026; not the same population as the State's own audit. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2025 [^71]: USAspending.gov, Minnesota state profile, FY2016. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2016 [^72]: USAspending.gov, Minnesota state profile, FY2019. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2019 [^73]: USAspending.gov, Minnesota state profile, FY2021. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2021 [^74]: USAspending.gov, Minnesota state profile, FY2025. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2025 [^75]: USAspending.gov, Minnesota state profile, FY2026. https://www.usaspending.gov/state/minnesota/2026 [^76]: *Bostock v. Clayton County*, 590 U.S. 644 (June 15, 2020), slip opinion. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/19pdf/17-1618_hfci.pdf [^77]: *Ames v. Ohio Department of Youth Services*, 605 U.S. 303 (June 5, 2025), slip opinion. https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/24pdf/23-1039_c0n2.pdf [^78]: *Johnson v. Transportation Agency*, 480 U.S. 616 (1987). https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/480/616/ [^79]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women, STOP Formula Grant implementation-plan checklist (Apr. 2019). https://www.justice.gov/ovw/page/file/1575031/dl