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State should create victim’s compensation fund |
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Monday, 24 December 2007 |
One of the highest priorities for the 2008 Minnesota Legislative session should be authorizing a state compensation fund for the victims of the I-35W bridge collapse. The tragedy on Aug. 1, 2007 took 13 lives and has affected hundreds of other lives.
Rep. Robin Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley, has suggested that Minnesota establish such a compensation fund. Now, state law caps compensation at $1 million per incident and $300,000 per individual.
To its credit, the state without legislative approval has awarded $10,000 in lost wages to victims.
Family members have testified that their medical expenses will exceed the cap set by the state. One family alone estimates its medical bills will top a million dollars.
The Minnesota DFL leadership has pledged to put on the fast track a plan establishing a compensation fund for victims.
Not all legislators believe acting right away is the best procedure since cause of the collapse has not been established. Because the state owns the bridge, inspects and maintains it, consensus is growing that the state has some responsibility for helping the victims.
It would be imprudent to wait while the families of victims suffer, some without their jobs and many without the means to pay for their mounting bills.
There is precedent for helping victims of the bridge disaster, because the state has and is helping flood victims.
The idea of establishing a victims compensation fund is not without precedent.
In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Congress established a similar fund. Victims, by accepting an award from the fund, had to agree not to sue the airlines, government or anyone else who could be held liable for lapses in security.
The fund paid out $7 billion to the families of 97 percent of the victims, an average of $1.8 million each. Not everyone was happy with the result, particularly those where the victim was highly paid, but the move undoubtedly saved the domestic airline industry.
In the case of the I-35W bridge collapse, it is all but inevitable that without a victims’ compensation fund, road consultants and construction companies as well as state bureaucrats will spend enormous amounts defending themselves.
This will create an environment in which businesses will be less likely to offer their services to the state.
Approximately 18 law firms have offered to represent the victims free of charge. That is not the issue.
It’s the parties that have to defend themselves who will pay dearly in some cases just to approve their innocence.
The cause of the collapse should be pursued and blame should be assessed. A victims’ compensation fund could allow for fair compensation to victims and their families, while avoiding any long-term damage to the state’s ability to do business with private enterprise.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty believes that survivors should be helped.
Next year legislators should forget partisan differences over the cause of the collapse and authorize a victims compensation fund. — An opinion from the ECM Editorial Board. The Forest Lake Times is part of ECM Publishers, Inc.
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