Kraft Banner 2023

Dear Neighbors,

In the weeks since the session ended, I?ve had the pleasure of traveling around our district, meeting with constituents, and going over the highlights of what we?ve accomplished together this session.?

And my eldest kid also graduated from high school, which was super fun!

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Thank you for the honor of representing our fabulous community. It really was an uplifting experience to have been part of what I think is the ?Minnesota Miracle? 2023 legislative session. By focusing on people and investing in Minnesotans, we accomplished so much transformative policy to make Minnesota the best place to live, work and raise a family - with a clean and sustainable environment - and where people have the personal freedom to live their best lives.?

Personally, I was the lead author of fourteen pieces of legislation that became law. These bills ranged from strengthening the voices of young Minnesotans to making key systemic changes to tackle climate change to addressing our mental health crisis. To learn more, this link [ [link removed] ] will direct you to a summary information about each piece of legislation [ [link removed] ].

Here are a few highlights of the Minnesota Miracle of 2023:

*Making Minnesota the Best Place to Live, Work & Raise a Family:*

- Reversed decades of underfunding education with $6B of investments over the next four years and by linking the general education formula to inflation for the future

- Made significant investments in childcare and early learning affordability including bolstering childcare providers by increasing payments to the Child Care Assistance Program for lower-income families

- Passed the largest investment in affordable housing in the state?s history

- Increased Higher Education funding by 18.5%

- Created a new child tax credit that will reduce childhood poverty in Minnesota by 33%

- Provided free school breakfast and lunch for ALL Minnesota children

- Passed Paid Family Medical Leave, so nobody has to be forced to choose between earning a paycheck and caring for themselves or a family member.

- Prohibited pharmaceutical companies from price gouging generic drugs during times of declared emergencies.

- Enacted commonsense gun violence prevention measures, including universal background checks, and red flag laws?

*With a Clean and Sustainable Environment*

- Put 100% Clean Energy by 2040 bill into law and are now set on the path to being a leader in the clean energy future.?

- Authorized over $315 million from the federal IIJA to improve roads, bridges, transit, broadband internet access, water treatment facilities, and lead pipe replacement.

- Created a State Competitiveness Fund of almost $200M to provide local matching funds for federal grants for IRA and IIJA climate & energy projects

- Enacted a nation-leading ban on non-essential uses of man-made PFAS chemicals, linked to cancer and other illnesses.?

- My Climate Smart Transportation and Land Use legislation reduces greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, our top source of emissions, and incorporates climate-conscious land use planning into all metro cities' planning.

*Where people have the Personal Freedom to live their best lives:*

- Codified Roe v. Wade into Law, ensuring MN politicians stay out of people?s reproductive care decisions

- Banned workplace discrimination based on natural hair?

- Made Minnesota a Trans Refuge State for gender-affirming care and banned the discredited practice of ?conversion therapy?

- Improved access to voting with the Democracy for the People Act, including my bill to allow 16 and 17-year-olds to pre-register to vote, establishing an early connection with the political process

New Laws Going into Effect July 1

Starting July 1st, there are several new laws taking effect. New laws include increases in funding for agriculture, education, renewable energy, public safety, and elections. Among the key bills taking effect are free school breakfast and lunch for all K-12 students, protecting healthcare workers against violence, limits on no-knock warrants, funding for rural broadband, free college tuition for income-eligible students, and more.?

To read information from nonpartisan House Public Information and House Research about the new laws, click here [ [link removed] ] and here [ [link removed] ].?

Local Events in our Community

This month, our local communities are enjoying all that Minnesota summers have to offer. Keep your eye out for these events, including 4th of July fireworks at Aquila Park, Skateapalooza at Carpenter Park Skate Park, the West End Block Party at The Shops at West End, and so much more.

I?ve been busy around the community and beyond since session ended. Recently, I had the opportunity to tour the Perpich Center for Arts Education organized by Rep Cherly Youakim. Full disclosure - this is where my kid graduated from! For the right Minnesota high school student focused on the arts (and it is open to students statewide), this is a great program.






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From a tour of a great new affordable housing and affordable childcare development called Rise on 7






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Met with the Twin Cities FM Radio Club - for their Field Days event!

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I also was part of a climate and energy delegation to Germany. This is a relationship and exchange program that has been going on for a decade to facilitate cross-country learning and connections around climate action and clean energy. I got a lot of ideas for things we should think about in Minnesota!

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Joined a voter registration drive with St. Louis Park Councilmembers Sue Budd, Yolanda Harris and Nadia Mohamed

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Went on a habitat and natural infrastructure boat tour of the Mississippi River with the Audubon Society and the National Caucus of Environmental Legislators.

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Town Hall

Thank you to everyone who attended our town hall earlier this month. I appreciate your effort to show up, ask questions, and be involved. Your input is vital to us all year long and helps shape our work at the Capitol.?

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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 [email protected] or call (651) 296-7026. For more regular updates, you can subscribe to these legislative updates if you haven?t already, here [ [link removed] ], and you can also ?like? and follow my official State Representative Facebook page. [ [link removed] ]

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: [email protected] "(replies to this newsletter are not monitored)"
Website:?[link removed] [ [link removed] ]
Legislative Assistant:?Caleb Rohrer 651-297-7025







To unsubscribe, visit the?Subscriber Preferences Page [ [link removed] ]. If you have questions or experience technical difficulties with this subscription service, please visit subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com [ [link removed] ].

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