GOP Senators Grill Commissioner Over MNsure, Nonprofit Woes
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Senate Republicans are putting pressure on one of Gov. Mark Dayton's commissioners.
Mike Rothman has served as commissioner of the Department of Commerce since 2011. But he's facing a rockier path to a second term due to some Republicans who want to block his appointment over his handling of MNsure and an embattled Minneapolis nonprofit.
Democrats control the Senate and Rothman says he's not worried about securing a second term. A Senate committee recommended Rothman's confirmation on Thursday.
Sen. Paul Gazelka and two other Republicans voted against him. Gazelka suggests the Commerce Department strong-armed an insurance company to offer lower rates on the state's health insurance exchange. That company left MNsure after sustaining heavy losses.
Rothman says that wasn't Commerce's fault. He says PreferredOne merely set its prices too low.
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