戴夫·平托后来为其引发争议的言论辩护，称是讽刺过了头，此前共和党议员对此表示震惊
作者：查尔斯·克里茨
福克斯新闻
发布时间：2026年3月10日 美国东部时间下午4:30
明尼苏达州一名民主党议员在一场关于工人分类错误的听证会上，对一名共和党议员关于潜在“入店行窃好处”的言论作出反驳，他随后为这场交流辩护称是讽刺言论出了偏差。
据当地报道，本周在明尼苏达州众议院劳动力与劳工委员会听证会上，议员们审议了关于员工和独立承包商分类法律如何影响保险支付和其他福利的信息。
圣保罗州议员、民主党人戴夫·平托在一名共和党议员表达担忧称工人分类错误最终会让纳税人承担后果后作出回应。
“这是一个有趣的问题系列，”平托表示，似乎在暗示要研究“入店行窃和零售盗窃的好处”。
平托谈到了他在另一个委员会上提出的近期报告，该报告试图解决有组织零售盗窃的解决方案。
“我实际上没有想到要问——也许这会很好——要确保他们研究一下入店行窃和零售盗窃的好处，因为也许人们依赖于此，并且以某种方式利用它，”他说。
平托接着描述了参与此类活动的人是否被视为违法，以及此类讨论的根本可能存在政策问题。
在接受福克斯新闻数字频道采访时，平托为其言论辩护，称他是在讽刺提出原始问题的共和党议员艾萨克·舒尔茨。
“我的评论本是讽刺性的，此前共和党议员艾萨克·舒尔茨提出需要研究工人分类错误这一非法行为是否会损害消费者，”平托说。
“作为检察官，我当然会严肃对待零售盗窃和入店行窃。任何相反的暗示都是荒谬的——就像舒尔茨议员的言论一样。”
尽管如此，平托的原始评论在社交媒体上被浏览数千次，并引发了其他议员的回应，同时“万湖之州”（明尼苏达州别称）正持续受到社会服务欺诈和其他丑闻的审查。
湖岸州议员、共和党人克里斯塔·努德森在对此事的视频回应中无言以对，双手掩面。
“对于那些被入店行窃的人来说，没有任何好处。我不知道还能说什么，”努德森说。“实际上我很震惊。我甚至不知道该说什么。谁——我不知道该说什么——谁从入店行窃中受益？是罪犯。”
来自明尼阿波利斯地区的共和党议员克里斯汀·罗宾斯似乎提到了她所在地区全国闻名的丑闻，表示不敢相信平托会说出这样的话。
“我们正努力防止明尼苏达州的欺诈和犯罪，这是我们多年来作为立法机构一直在处理的问题。上届会议我们终于将有组织零售盗窃犯罪纳入法律条文，”她说。
“这是一个漫长的过程，这是我们需要用来打击全州社区这一真实问题的工具。”
工人分类错误长期以来一直是明尼苏达州立法机构民主党-农民-劳工党议员的重点关注问题，自2024年开始推动禁止雇主错误分类员工。
据众议院网站帖子称，这一政策据说是由一名建筑工人向议员作证后推动的，该工人在工作相关受伤后积累了高额医疗费用，但雇主后来只给他提供了少量费用补偿，并“告诉他忘了保险，改名换地址，说如果没人支付账单，最终会消失”。
据议员网页称，该男子后来据称发现他的雇主为节省劳动力成本而错误分类员工。
明尼阿波利斯民主党议员艾玛·格林曼起草了HF4444法案，以确保企业未来不会以这种方式行事，或错误地将员工归类为承包商等。
“我们的工作是确保明尼苏达州工人获得法律规定的保护，”她当时表示。
查尔斯·克里茨是福克斯新闻数字频道记者。
他于2013年加入福克斯新闻，担任作家和制作助理。
查尔斯负责报道福克斯新闻数字频道的媒体、政治和文化新闻。
查尔斯是宾夕法尼亚州本地人，毕业于天普大学，获得广播新闻学士学位。新闻线索可发送至charles.creitz@fox.com。
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390383834112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390401520112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390398046112
Minnesota Dem suggests studying ‘benefit of shoplifting’ in committee clash, then says it was sarcasm
Dave Pinto later defended his viral remarks as sarcasm gone wrong after Republican lawmakers expressed shock
By Charles Creitz
Fox News
Published March 10, 2026 4:30pm EDT
A Minnesota Democrat whose retort to a Republican about potential “benefit[s] of shoplifting” during a hearing on worker misclassification defended the exchange as sarcasm gone awry.
During a Minnesota House Workforce and Labor Committee hearing this week, lawmakers reviewed information on how laws governing employee and independent contractor classifications affect insurance payments and other benefits, according to local reports.
State Rep. Dave Pinto, D-St. Paul, responded after a Republican lawmaker voiced concern that worker misclassification ultimately falls on the taxpayer.
“It is an intriguing line of questions,” Pinto said, appearing to suggest a study on the “benefit of shoplifting and retail theft.”
Pinto spoke of a recent presentation before another committee he sits on that sought to address solutions to organized retail theft.
“And it actually had not occurred to me to ask — it probably would have been good — to make sure that they would study sort of the benefit of shoplifting, of retail theft since because perhaps people are relying on that and sort of using that maybe it’s you know assisting them in some way,” he said.
Pinto went on to describe whether people involved in such activities are considered to be violating the law, and that there may be a policy question at the root of such a discussion.
In comments to Fox News Digital, Pinto defended the remarks, saying he was reacting sarcastically to Rep. Isaac Schultz, R-Mille Lacs, who had posed the original question.
“My comments, intended to be sarcastic, followed a line of questioning from Republican Rep. Isaac Schultz suggesting a study is needed on whether the illegal practice of worker misclassification harms consumers,” Pinto said.
“As a prosecutor, of course I take retail theft and shoplifting seriously. Any insinuation to the contrary is absurd — just like Rep. Schultz’s remarks were.”
Nonetheless, Pinto’s original comment was viewed thousands of times on social media and elicited responses from other lawmakers, amid ongoing scrutiny over social services fraud and other scandals in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
State Rep. Krista Knudsen, R-Lake Shore, was rendered speechless in a video response to the matter, as she put her hands to her face.
“There are no benefits to shoplifting for the people that are being shoplifted from. I have no idea what else to say,” Knudsen said. “I’m shocked, actually. I don’t even know what to say. Who — I don’t know what to say — Who benefits from shoplifting? The criminals.”
State Rep. Kristin Robbins, a Republican from the Minneapolis area, appeared to cite her region’s nationally recognized scandals, saying she cannot believe the comment was made by Pinto.
“[W]e are trying to prevent fraud and prevent crime in Minnesota and this has been an issue that we’ve dealt with as a legislature for many years. We finally got the organized retail theft crime in statute last session,” she said.
“It’s been a long haul and that’s a tool that we need to crack down on this real problem throughout our communities around the state.”
Worker misclassification has been a focus of Democrat-Farmer-Labor lawmakers in the state legislature for some time, as an effort began in 2024 to ban employers from misclassifying employees.
That policy was reportedly spurred by a construction worker who testified before lawmakers that he racked up major medical bills after a work-related injury, but his employer later only offered him a small amount for expenses and “told him to forget about insurance and to change his name and address, saying the bills would eventually disappear if nobody paid them,” according to a post on the House of Representatives website.
The man later allegedly found out his employer was misclassifying employees in order to save on labor costs, according to the lawmakers’ page.
State Rep. Emma Greenman, D-Minneapolis, authored HF4444 to ensure businesses don’t act in such a way in the future and/or misclassify employees as contractors or the like.
“Our job is to ensure that Minnesota workers have the protections that we in law provide,” she said at the time.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to charles.creitz@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390383834112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390401520112
https://www.foxnews.com/video/6390398046112
