skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Friday, March 29, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

State “Victim Compensation Fund” Proposal Gaining Support

play audio
Play

Monday, October 29, 2007   

St. Paul, MN – A proposal to provide compensation to victims of disasters, including those in the I-35 bridge collapse, is getting support from the legal community. Joe Crumley with the Minnesota Association for Justice says current law limits the state's liability to $1 million for all claims, which may not cover even one person's expenses.

"When a family member is injured or killed, it can be a horrible trauma for a family. It's only fair that they avoid having to deal with some of the financial problems that result."

The bridge collapse killed 13 and injured 100, and has prompted lawmakers to hold a series of hearings to consider a compensation fund. The legislation is expected to be introduced during the next session.

State Representative Ryan Winkler says he plans to introduce the "Disaster Victim Compensation Fund" bill because victims' needs are immediate, long-lasting, and expensive.

"The fund is a separate pool of money that disaster victims could tap into to meet their economic and medical losses, and potentially their pain and suffering expense loss, in exchange for waiving their right to sue the state of Minnesota through traditional litigation."

Winkler explains it's a matter of balancing financial, and human, priorities.

"We already have a budget of $400 million to reconstruct the bridge's physical infrastructure. We don't have any budget, and we've paid no attention whatsoever to the reconstruction of the lives of the people who were affected. We need to honor the human toll that this tragedy has taken."

He says it would be modeled on the compensation fund Congress established following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, and would retroactively cover the victims and families of the bridge collapse. Governor Pawlenty has hinted at support through a spokesman, who says the Governor believes "the state should assist survivors and the families of victims."


get more stories like this via email

more stories
The U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments this week about the popular abortion pill Mifepristone and will weigh in on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration was correct in how it can be dosed and prescribed. (Ascannio/Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Missouri residents are worried about future access to birth control. The latest survey from The Right Time, an initiative based in Missouri…


Social Issues

play sound

Wisconsin children from low-income families are now on track to get nutritious foods over the summer. Federal officials have approved the Badger …

Social Issues

play sound

Almost 2,900 people are unsheltered on any given night in the Beehive State. Gov. Spencer Cox is celebrating signing nine bills he says are geared …


The U.S. teaching workforce remains primarily white while the percentage of Black teachers has declined. However, the percentage of Asian and Latinx teachers is rising.(WavebreakMediaMicro/Adobestock)

Social Issues

play sound

Education advocates are calling on lawmakers to increase funding for programs to combat the teacher shortage. Around 37% of schools nationwide …

Environment

play sound

New York's Legislature is considering a bill to get clean-energy projects connected to the grid faster. It's called the RAPID Act, for "Renewable …

Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021