News

The state’s historic surplus provides an opportunity to make significant investments that would improve the lives of all Minnesotans. The Association of Minnesota Counties (AMC), an organization representing all 87 Minnesota counties, recently passed its top legislative priorities for the 2023 legislative session.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a joint prosecution with the States of Minnesota and North Carolina and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on behalf of the People of the State of California, will be distributing over $95 million in restitution to more than 87,000 consumers nationwide who were harmed by Consumer Advocacy Center Inc., d/b/a Premier Student Loan Center, and related companies. This includes just over $1 million to 912 Minnesota consumers who were defrauded by Premier.

The Minnesota Department of Revenue has updated its online posting of Minnesota businesses prohibited from purchasing liquor, beer or wine to resell. The department updates the list each month to reflect companies that have failed to pay taxes to the state.

The Minnesota Association of Townships (MAT) is proud to announce its 2023 Scholarship Program, which will award up to five $2,000 scholarships to high school juniors. All students currently enrolled in 11th grade and attending a Minnesota public, private, or parochial school, or a home-study program, are eligible to apply for this program. Since its inception in 2001, the MAT Scholarship Program has had over 2,500 submissions and 97 winners.

The Minnesota Energy Assistance Program has raised the maximum amount eligible Minnesota households can receive to pay for emergency fuel deliveries this winter by 150 percent. The Energy Assistance Program, administered by the Minnesota Department of Commerce, increased the maximum crisis benefit from $600 to $1,500, allowing eligible homeowners and renters to avoid the anxiety of a nearly empty fuel tank.

912 Minnesota consumers to receive more than $1 million in restitution in lawsuit Minnesota filed jointly with CFPB Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced today that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, in a joint prosecution with the States of Minnesota and North Carolina and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office on behalf of the People of the State of California, will be distributing over $95 million in restitution to more than 87,000 consumers nationwide who were harmed by Consumer Advocacy Center Inc., d/b/a Premier Student Loan Center, and related companies. This includes just over $1 million to 912 Minnesota consumers who were defrauded by Premier. Premier operated its student- loan debt-relief enterprise through multiple corporate entities and under multiple names, including co-defendants True Count Staffing Inc., d/b/a SL Account Management, and Prime Consulting LLC, d/b/a Financial Preparation Services.

Joins 51 AGs in request to cut down on unwanted messages that cost Americans millions in fraud Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison has joined 51 attorneys general — from every state and the District of Columbia — in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission in support of the FCC’s proposal to help cut down on unwanted text messages. The proposal would require mobile wireless providers to block texts from invalid, unassigned, or unused numbers, and from numbers on a Do Not Originate (DNO) list.