Minn. House Approves $40 Million Fund for Victims of Bridge Collapse

The Minnesota House approved a $40 million fund last week to compensate victims of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

The vote was 120-10 after a debate on the same day that lawmakers learned the state’s projected budget shortfall has grown to $935 million, meaning they’re facing difficult spending decisions. The bridge aid also requires approval from the Senate, which is considering a separate proposal.

Compensation for the victims of the Aug. 1 disaster that killed 13 people and injured 145 won out over financial worries. As representatives debated, several survivors and their supporters were easy to spot in the gallery due to their red clothes.

The House bill, by Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, would not cap individual awards but would set up a $40 million fund that would be allocated among the victims by an appointed overseer. Winkler urged lawmakers to consider the money in perspective.

“The replacement of the steel and concrete of the bridge is $400 million, in rough terms,” Winkler said. “The federal government is paying for that replacement. Members, we’re paying 10 percent of that to help rebuild the lives of the people who were affected by the tragedy. It’s a small price to pay for the state of Minnesota, and it’s our obligation to do so.”

In contrast, the version working its way through the Senate would limit payments to $400,000 per victim, giving the most severely injured much less than their full out-of-pocket costs for medical bills, lost wages and other expenses. Any differences between the House bill and the final Senate version would be resolved in a conference committee.

Under current state law, the most the victims could get if they sued the state is capped at $1 million, split among all of them. Some survivors say their own medical bills have topped $1 million already, and those who lost family members are also facing big financial challenges. Victims who accept compensation from the fund would give up their right to sue.

Rep. Tom Emmer, R-Delano, failed in an attempt to amend the bill to tap the first $40 million of a quarter-cent metro-area sales tax increase that the Legislature authorized Monday to fund mass transit projects, instead of taking the money from the general fund as Winkler’s bill does. That motion was ruled out of order.

Emmer argued that the bill’s goal is “laudable” but said it sets a bad precedent for future disasters, putting legislators in the position of deciding which victims are worthy of special state help, and which ones are not.

And he pointed to the state’s suddenly worsened financial picture, saying lawmakers also need to think about people who are having trouble paying their mortgages, buying gasoline or finding a job and getting health care.

“We are in a deficit,” he said. “We need to be responsible with the limited resources that are entrusted to us.”

Winkler said the question is not which victims are worthy of help, but whether the state accepts its responsibility, given that it owned the bridge and was responsible for maintaining it.

In a preliminary finding in January, the National Transportation Safety Board said a design flaw was “the critical factor” in the collapse. The NTSB said steel plates that connected beams in the bridge were too thin by half and fractured. What actually caused the bridge to fail during evening rush-hour traffic in downtown Minneapolis remains under investigation. A final report is expected this fall.