MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota House Minority Leader Paul Thissen is proposing that the state’s Human Services Department be split into five separate agencies.

The massive agency that serves more than 1 million people is too big for a single person to manage, Thissen said a day after Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton announced he had selected Emily Johnson Piper as the agency’s new commissioner.

Thissen welcomed Piper, but said now is a good time to consider making changes to the agency, which manages everything from care for the poor and disabled to the state’s embattled sex offender program.

“The Minnesota Sex Offender Program and delivering health care to poor people have nothing in common,” the Minneapolis Democrat said.

Thissen said his proposal is designed to streamline delivery of services and increase accountability without requiring new employees or added costs.

Roberta Opheim, the state’s ombudsman for mental health and developmental disabilities, said she sees merit in Thissen’s proposal, calling the Human Services Department “too big, and it’s too complex.”

But state Rep. Matt Dean, R-Dellwood, said the solution is “probably not found in a new organizational chart.”

“It’s probably found in new leadership and a change in culture,” said Dean, who is chairman of the House’s Health and Human Services Finance Committee.

Thissen said he started thinking of how to split up the Human Services Department years ago and shared his idea this week with Dayton’s aides.

Piper said in a statement that she looks forward to reviewing Thissen’s proposal.

“I will be meeting with staff, stakeholders and state lawmakers to explore all ideas for ways to further improve the human services we provide to the people of Minnesota,” she said.