Labor committee reviews governor's plan to phase out niche Class B electrical license and tweak inspection fees
April 09, 2026 | 2026 Legislature MN, Minnesota
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ST. PAUL — The Minnesota Senate Labor Committee on Thursday heard the governor's recommendations to phase out a narrow Class B electrical installer license, adjust inspection fees for small residential electrical work and remove outdated bond requirements, department officials said.
Nicole Bliss, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, testified in support of Senate File 2373 as amended and described the changes as largely technical but with one substantive policy shift: "This section would phase out the Class B installer license," she said, noting that the license covers a limited scope of electrical work for center-pivot irrigation systems and that there are only 19 active Class B licenses. Bliss told the committee current licensees would be allowed to renew and continue to perform authorized work, while no new Class B licenses would be issued.
The proposal would also repeal an outdated bond requirement, Bliss said, and make a small but substantive change to the inspection-fee schedule for one- and two-family dwellings. Under the bill, the $165 inspection fee would apply when a job involves 14 or more feeders or circuits instead of the present 15-or-more threshold. Bliss said the administrative adjustment effectively lowers the cost of some permits and estimated the change reduces the fee by roughly $3 at the affected threshold.
She also described a technical correction to the fee listed for separate inspections of pools and spas to align the statute with current practice — "the minimum fee for an on-site electrical inspection was updated from $35 to $55 last year," she said — and updates to cross-references so investigations of work performed without permits will reflect recently added solar and energy-storage fee schedules.
When a senator raised the question of formally adopting the amendment during the hearing, the chair and staff said immediate adoption was not necessary. "Before we do that, we need to adopt the amendment to officially..." the senator began; staff and the chair replied that the committee would continue discussing the amendment and expected to take it up at a meeting next week after additional consultations, including with Ms. Doyle, who had been consulted by staff.
Committee members who spoke described department outreach to electricians and expressed support for the mostly technical updates. The committee did not vote on the bill during the brief session and the chair closed the hearing after inviting public testimony and hearing none.
Next steps: the committee intends to return to the amendment and broader discussion of Senate File 2373 at a subsequent meeting next week.
Nicole Bliss, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, testified in support of Senate File 2373 as amended and described the changes as largely technical but with one substantive policy shift: "This section would phase out the Class B installer license," she said, noting that the license covers a limited scope of electrical work for center-pivot irrigation systems and that there are only 19 active Class B licenses. Bliss told the committee current licensees would be allowed to renew and continue to perform authorized work, while no new Class B licenses would be issued.
The proposal would also repeal an outdated bond requirement, Bliss said, and make a small but substantive change to the inspection-fee schedule for one- and two-family dwellings. Under the bill, the $165 inspection fee would apply when a job involves 14 or more feeders or circuits instead of the present 15-or-more threshold. Bliss said the administrative adjustment effectively lowers the cost of some permits and estimated the change reduces the fee by roughly $3 at the affected threshold.
She also described a technical correction to the fee listed for separate inspections of pools and spas to align the statute with current practice — "the minimum fee for an on-site electrical inspection was updated from $35 to $55 last year," she said — and updates to cross-references so investigations of work performed without permits will reflect recently added solar and energy-storage fee schedules.
When a senator raised the question of formally adopting the amendment during the hearing, the chair and staff said immediate adoption was not necessary. "Before we do that, we need to adopt the amendment to officially..." the senator began; staff and the chair replied that the committee would continue discussing the amendment and expected to take it up at a meeting next week after additional consultations, including with Ms. Doyle, who had been consulted by staff.
Committee members who spoke described department outreach to electricians and expressed support for the mostly technical updates. The committee did not vote on the bill during the brief session and the chair closed the hearing after inviting public testimony and hearing none.
Next steps: the committee intends to return to the amendment and broader discussion of Senate File 2373 at a subsequent meeting next week.
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