Rep. Larry Kraft 2023-24 Term

Lead author on these bills that became law

St. Louis Park Infrastructure 

Cedar Lake Rd and Louisiana Ave reconstruction 

  • Description: $5M bonding for the reconstruction of a key and regionally significant intersection in St. Louis Park.

  • Benefits: Increases safety, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and improves biking and pedestrian facilities 

Climate Related 

Commercial Building Energy Codes 

  • Description: The energy portion of the state building code will be updated every three years with increasing levels  of energy efficiency, so that by 2036, new commercial buildings will be 80% more energy efficient.

  • Benefits: Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and healthier and more comfortable new buildings. Buildings  generate 40% of Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions; commercial buildings comprise about half that amount.  

Residential Energy Codes 

  • Description: The energy portion of the residential state building code will be updated every three years with  increasing levels of energy efficiency, so that by 2038, new homes will be 70% more energy efficient.

  • Benefits: Reduced greenhouse gas emissions and healthier and more comfortable new homes. Buildings  generate 40% of Minnesota’s greenhouse gas emissions; homes comprise a bit over half that amount. 

Energy Benchmarking for Commercial Buildings 

  • Description: Requires MN buildings over 50,000 square feet to benchmark and publicly share their energy usage

  • Benefits: Addresses existing commercial buildings and on average, results in a 1-3% annual reduction in energy  usage in buildings that benchmark. Provides a foundation for additional programs to help building owners lower  energy usage, reduce energy bills, and decrease greenhouse gas emissions. 

Grid Enhancing Technologies (GETs) 

  • Description: Requires utilities that operate a significant amount of high capacity power transmission lines  in Minnesota to study and create an implementation plan for GETs. GETs are a set of hardware and software  technologies that are typically modest in cost, can be deployed relatively quickly, and can increase capacity on a  transmission line by 10-40%.  

  • Benefits: In order to hit our goal of 100% clean electricity by 2040, we need more high speed transmission  capacity. These superhighways of the grid are often congested, preventing more renewable energy from being  connected and increasing costs for MN ratepayers. GETs are a quick and inexpensive way of expanding capacity  on existing transmission lines. 

Transmission in Highway Right-of-Way 

  • Description: Requires the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to allow high speed power  transmission lines to be located alongside major roads.  

  • Benefits: A transmission owner can deal with one entity rather than tens or hundreds of landowners, saving  potentially many millions of dollars and years of time. Will make it easier to build more transmission capacity faster  thereby facilitating more renewable energy and making it easier to achieve our statewide goal of 100% clean  electricity by 2040. 

Local Climate Action Planning grants 

  • Description: $5 million for grants to local units of government to create climate action plans, up to $50,000 per  grant. 

  • Benefits: Helps cities, towns, and other local governments create climate action plans to reduce greenhouse gas  emissions and/or adapt to climate change impacts.

Global Warming Refrigerants 

  • Description: Updates the Minnesota Building Code to link more directly to federal changes regarding refrigerants.

  • Benefits: Allows for an orderly and rapid transition to a new generation of refrigerants that have as much as  75% less global warming potential than the existing generation. This is significant because the cooling industry  generates about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions. 

Climate risk disclosure for MN banks 

  • Description: Requires MN banks and credit unions with over $1B of assets to evaluate their risk due to climate  change. 

  • Benefits: Identification of climate risks to MN financial system. 

Transportation & Climate 

Climate Smart Transportation and Land Use 

  • Description: Requires any capacity expansion project on the MN Dept of Transportation (MnDOT) network  that would increase greenhouse gas emissions or vehicle miles traveled (VMT) to have those increases offset,  either within the project or by projects elsewhere in the state. Also requires the Metropolitan Council to take the  transportation greenhouse gas emissions and VMT targets from MnDOT, incorporate them into a regional climate  action plan with a focus on land use, and then build climate planning into the next round of comprehensive plans  (for 2050) that all cities in the metro area will start in 2026. 

  • Benefits: Creates a structure for the systemic change we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from  transportation, our #1 source of greenhouse gas emissions in MN. Also builds climate change planning and climate  conscious land use into all metro cities’ planning going forward. 

Update to Climate Smart Transportation bill 

  • Description: Updates 2023 law to include implementation recommendations from Impact Mitigation Working  Group, which was created by the 2023 law. 

  • Benefits: Improves implementation of law. 

EV charging infrastructure 

  • Description: Creates EV charging infrastructure tied to the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program  to create long range charging infrastructure on major routes throughout Minnesota.  

  • Benefits: $85 million ($68M federal, $17M state) over 5 years to create alternative fuel corridors with charging  stations at least every 50 miles.  

Economic Development & Climate 

Minnesota Energy Alley - $3M funding 

  • Description: Funding for the Grid Catalyst clean energy accelerator, which works to accelerate clean energy  deployment by connecting entrepreneurs to project demonstration opportunities, mentorship and development,  and investments to grow their business. 

  • Benefits: Clean energy innovation and jobs in Minnesota. 

Housing & Climate 

Single Staircase Apartment Building Study 

  • Description: Funds a study on whether apartment buildings between four and six stories with a single staircase  can achieve life safety outcomes similar to current codes. Today all apartment buildings over three stories must  have two staircases/means of egress. However, in many places around the world as well as in several locations in  the U.S. single staircase buildings are allowed up to at least six stories. 

  • Benefits: Single staircase buildings are more space efficient, increasing affordability, and are more energy efficient  as units typically have walls facing two directions, increasing natural light and cross ventilation. They can also more  easily support multi-bedroom units for families.

Waste & Recycling 

Boat Shrink Wrap Plastic 

  • Description: Requires producers of boat shrink wrap plastic in Minnesota to fund a product stewardship  organization that will collect and recycle the material 

  • Benefits: Remove most of the estimated six million pounds of boat shrink wrap plastic used annually in Minnesota  from going to landfills or incinerators. This will reduce pollution, improve water quality, and limit the need for fossil  fuel that would be needed to make more virgin plastic. 

Regenerative Agriculture 

Carbon market study (co-led with a Democratic and Republican colleague)

  • Description: Studies the creation of a carbon market to help fund farmer adoption of regenerative agriculture  practices 

  • Benefits: Regenerative agriculture practices such as no-till farming, cover crops, and precision fertilizer  management can sequester carbon, improve water quality, and improve the health of the soil and food grown in it. 

Democracy 

Voter pre-registration for 16 & 17 year olds 

  • Description: Allows anyone that is 16 or 17 to pre-register to vote, so when they turn 18 they are automatically  registered. 

  • Benefits: Proven to increase voter turnout in the 18-29 age range. Helps young people to form lifelong voting  habits. 

Voter pre-registration information to 16 & 17 year olds 

  • Description: Requires high schools to provide voter registration and pre-registration information to anyone 16 or  older twice per year. Previously high schools have been required to provide this information only to students who  would be eligible to vote in the next election.  

  • Benefits: Gets young people involved in voting and helps them form lifelong voting habits.  

Excavation 

Excavation Safety 

  • Description: Updates outdated excavation statute to improve reporting, increase stakeholder communication, and  leverage new technology.  

  • Benefits: Improved excavation safety throughout Minnesota. 

Healthcare & Insurance 

Health Insurance Network Adequacy, especially for mental health services

  • Description: Updates network adequacy parameters used by the MN Department of Health to determine if an  insurance company’s in-network offerings are sufficient. For two years, requires health insurance plans to accept  new mental health providers, if they will agree to the same contractual terms as providers currently in-network.  Also requires the MN Dept. of Health to study network adequacy and develop longer-term recommendations. 

  • Benefits: Immediate action to address the mental health crisis with more in-network options for patients, while also  creating long-term recommendations for changes. 

Hearing Aids insurance coverage 

  • Description: Health insurance must cover a pair of hearing aids every three years for anyone instead of just those  who are 18 years of age and younger. 

  • Benefits: Hearing aids now covered in health insurance for all Minnesotans.

Mental Health Parity Notification in Long Term Disability Insurance  

  • Description: Requires long term disability insurance providers to notify purchasers if policies have mental health  limitations. Today, most long term disability insurance policies limit mental health benefits as compared to physical  health though many if not most policyholders are unaware of the limitation.  

  • Benefits: More public awareness of what is in policies and more long term disability insurance policies without  mental health limitations. 

Consumer Protection 

Net Neutrality 

  • Description: Ensures Internet Service Providers (ISPs) provide a level playing field and treat all data equally.

  • Benefits: Prevents discrimination against content or services by ensuring that ISPs cannot block, throttle, or  prioritize data based on their commercial interests. It safeguards an open and democratic online environment, and  is key to maintaining fair access to information and services for all users. 

Contractor recovery fund modified to include claims against solar installers

  • Description: Requires residential solar installers to become licensed as residential contractors, and therefore pay  into the contractor recovery fund. 

  • Benefits: Consumer protection for residential solar customers. The Contractor Recovery Fund compensates  owners or lessees of residential property in Minnesota who have suffered loss due to a licensed contractor’s  fraudulent, deceptive or dishonest practice, failure of performance, or if the contractor goes out of business. 

ITIN Number for Utility Service 

  • Description: Make it clear that utilities can not deny service to customers with ITIN numbers. The ITIN is a number  provided by the IRS as a way for people without social security numbers to file their taxes. In order to obtain an  ITIN, the applicant’s identity has to be verified by the Federal Government. 

  • Benefits: Makes it easier for people with ITIN numbers to hook up utilities and to pay their bills 

First Responders 

Fire safety account fee increased 

  • Description: The Fire Safety Account was created by the Legislature in 2006 with a 0.65% surcharge on  homeowners insurance premiums. This account is a vital funding source within the fire service, and yet it has been  raided during tough economic times and was reduced to 0.5% in 2013. This legislation has returned the surcharge  to 0.65%. 

  • Benefits: Ensures that the Minnesota Board of Firefighter Training and Education, the State Fire Marshal’s Office,  and the Statewide Response Teams - including Hazmat, Task Force 1 Structural Collapse Team, and the Air Rescue  Team - are provided the resources they need to do their jobs and keep us safe. It will also help provide more  dollars for firefighter training - which especially can be an issue in greater MN. 

Telecommunication 

Broadband and Telecom Options 

  • Description: Removes outdated language that limits local communities from developing municipal broadband  infrastructure. Also adds protections for landline customers.  

  • Benefits: More consumer options and increased protections for landline customers, especially in greater  Minnesota.