Legislative Update - April 6, 2023

Dear Neighbors,

The legislature has adjourned for our Spring recess. We will return to our work next Tuesday. In the meantime, I am sending out wishes to all who may be celebrating. May this be a Happy Easter or a peaceful Passover for you and your loved ones.

Our Progress

At this time, most Committee work on individual bills is done, and we are working diligently to put together our budget bills. Committee budget bills pull together many individual policies and have to meet spending targets assigned by leadership. Nothing is complete until the House and Senate come to an agreement and Governor Walz signs the bill. We are on track to begin voting on budget bills when we return from Spring recess. I understand that we’re getting budget bills done pretty early, which is great because it gives every member of the House and Senate a chance to read the bills and ensure their questions and concerns are addressed. 

As vice chair of the House Climate and Energy Committee, I am extremely proud of the bill Chair Patty Acomb has put together with so much input from all members of the committee. This bill is a great start to tackling the issues of climate change and green energy infrastructure. We are putting Minnesota on the right path moving forward.

Important Information

Each year, Minnesotans enrolled in Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare must have their eligibility reviewed to verify they still qualify for coverage. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, this renewal process was paused, and Minnesotans enrolled in these programs maintained continuous health care coverage. This spring, when the federal health emergency ends, the standard renewal process will resume. 

If you’re among the 1.5 million Minnesotans who rely on Medical Assistance or MinnesotaCare, make sure your current contact information is on file, especially if you’ve moved in the last three years. Visit mn.gov/dhs/mycontactinfo or call (800) 657-3672 to update your address, phone number, and email address. Also, be on the lookout for official information and instructions about how to renew your coverage, and be prepared with some documentation when it’s time to renew. Learn more at mn.gov/dhs/renewmycoverage.

I’m committed to ensuring all eligible Minnesotans retain their public coverage when renewals restart while connecting those ineligible with other coverage options. Last month, lawmakers approved, and Governor Walz signed into law a bill to ease this “unwinding” by investing resources for counties to process renewals, support for MNsure navigators, and making MinnesotaCare available with no premiums through June 30, 2024.

Updates

Thanks to everyone who came out to my most recent town hall at St. Louis Park Library. We had fantastic questions on just about everything, including climate change, state policy impact on property taxes, social security, Minnesota as a Trans Refuge state, affordable housing, education funding, gun violence, transit - including Southwest Light Rail, the subminimum wage for disabled individuals, drivers licenses for all, and more. Thanks for holding me accountable and being involved in our democracy.

Last Friday was Trans Day of Visibility. We had a great event at the Capitol, and I was so glad to run into some constituents with my good friend Rep. Cheryl Youakim. We must support our trans neighbors!

Last week I had the honor of meeting Gabby Giffords. As a congresswoman, Gabby was shot during a constituent event in Tucson, Arizona. Since then, she has made a miraculous recovery and began her gun safety advocacy organization, Giffords. I’m inspired by her work to prevent gun violence around our country, and I support common-sense gun violence prevention initiatives moving through the Minnesota House.

I was so encouraged to meet all of these students from the Youth Climate Justice Summit outside my office last week. They asked great questions about our progress on the climate justice curriculum bill I’m carrying this session. Read more about the bill here.

Lastly, I joined FairVote Minnesota at their Rank Your Brew event. The need to strengthen our democracy and address the dysfunction in our government is urgent, and Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) is a proven, common-sense step we can take right now. Some of you may remember that I ran for City Council in 2019 in St. Louis Park’s first RCV election! I’m a proud co-author of the Protect and Advance Democracy Act, which has many provisions, including the implementation of a Statewide Rank Choice Voting Taskforce to make recommendations for RCV statewide by 2026.

Stay in Touch

If you have questions, ideas, or feedback that you’d like to share, please don’t hesitate to reach out. You can email me at rep.larry.kraft@house.mn.gov or call (651) 296-7026. For more regular updates, you can subscribe to these legislative updates if you haven’t already, here, and you can also “like” and follow my official State Representative Facebook page.

Sincerely,

Larry Kraft

State Representative

Representative Larry Kraft

515 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155

Phone: 651-296-7026
Email: rep.larry.kraft@house.mn.gov (replies to this newsletter are not monitored)
Website: https://www.house.mn.gov/46A
Legislative Assistant: Caleb Rohrer 651-297-7025