KARE 11 Investigates: Ethics questions emerge over Sen. Fateh's housing bill and wife's company ties

[question everything]

MINNEAPOLIS — A KARE 11 investigation into Minnesota’s troubled Housing Stabilization Services (HSS) program, which has already uncovered widespread fraud, is now exposing concerns surrounding politics and ethics. Sen. Omar Fateh’s wife was the listed owner of a Housing Stabilization company while the senator himself was pushing legislation to fast-track client approvals without divulging his ties to the taxpayer-funded program.

KARE 11 Investigates found no evidence of billing fraud, and the HSS company owned by the Senator’s wife did not receive Medicaid money. But a legal expert says the lack of disclosure raises serious ethical concerns.

On March 24, 2025, Sen. Omar Fateh introduced Senate File 2741, a bill he said would speed up access for people to be approved for HSS, a Medicaid-funded program to help the elderly and disabled find and maintain housing. If passed, it would have shifted authority for approval of housing stabilization services for people with disability waivers from Department of Human Services (DHS) staff to waiver case managers at the counties. "A bill that will address a critical delay in access to Housing Stabilization Services, also known as HSS," he told fellow members of the Minnesota State Senate Human Services Committee. "HSS is a lifeline.”

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"It raises lots of red flags," said Hamline University and University of St. Thomas political science professor David Schultz, who has taught ethics for 25 years. Schultz found it concerning that Senator Fateh's wife, Kaltum Mohamed, was a founder and owner of Community Development Services LLC, an HSS company with an active website soliciting referrals and clients.

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https://www.kare11.com/article/news/investigations/kare-11-investigates-ethics-questions-emerge-over-sen-fatehs-housing-bill-and-wifes-company-ties-minnesota/89-e838db64-2800-4d75-8482-52b7125c1883