The Republican Caucus is sitting down with welfare fraud investigators to talk about the seriousness of the issue here in Minnesota...Legislators on both sides of the issue are speaking out about reforming the system.Fox Mankato's Carly Aplin spoke with lawmakers today at the State Capitol about legislation that could change Minnesota's welfare system.01.40.49Rep. Marty Seifert says, "I was really surprised at the extent of the problem that we have..."That problem... according to House Minority Leader Marty Seifert, is the possible abuse of Minnesota's welfare system...01.14.37Rep. Tony Cornish says, "To find out how much abuse is really going on, we think that it's possible a one in three or four out of every application has had error or purposefully bad information given."Welfare fraud investigators tell the Republican Caucus nearly 1.67 billion dollars is lost to abuse of the system every year... But DFL Senator Kathy Sheran says she's hesitant to support any major reform of the system.01.33.45Sen. Kathy Sheran says, "If we want to change what we're doing or increase what we're doing we have to measure that against what we're going to recapture..."Senator Sheran says with a nearly seven billion dollar state budget deficit lawmakers have to be careful that money is spent where there would be a beneficial monetary return to the state.01.34.12Sen. Kathy Sheran says, "Welfare really comprises of the general fund about one percent of that budget so it's a very small amount."01.41.09Rep. Marty Seifert says, "That number is greatly under exaggerated by her and people who don't want reform... you have to look at the whole picture, a family with several dependents could be getting up to $4,000 in benefits."Representative Marty Seifert is introducing new legislation that he says will help curb abuse of Electronic Benefit Cards...The bill proposes that a photo ID be required when using an EBT card...Also, a card cannot be used to buy cigarettes or alcohol... those requiring assistance could not use the card to get cash and EBT cards issued in Minnesota could not be used outside the state.01.14.16Rep. Tony Cornish says, "The goal of our legislation is to restrict what a person can really get on an EBT card, make sure they're getting the right things."But, state officials disagree on how things should be handled...01.46.50Carly Aplin says, "Welfare fraud is currently investigated by local county officials, but the Department of Human Services is proposing a state takeover of any fraud investigations, which local investigators say would be detrimental to the system."01.43.30Preston Cowing says, "We're able to ensure that the clients who receive welfare are receiving what they're entitled to, no more, no less... and have face to face contact."If the state's proposal is adopted they would have 25 investigators cover the entire state... for example southwest Minnesota would have one investigator covering 20 counties.But, Representative Seifert says he's staying positive that that won't happen...01.40.49Rep. Marty Seifert says, "We as Republicans tend to be on the ___ side of welfare reform... and with the budget deficit that we are in are going to stand up and say enough is enough and we need some accountability."At the State Capitol, Carly Aplin, the Fox Mankato News at Nine.