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State Representative Ryan Winkler
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-7026
For more information contact: Matt Swenson 651-297-8406
Column/LTE
COMPENSATION FUNDS HAVE A PLACE, TIME
To the Editor:
Just over one year ago, the I35W Bridge collapsed over the Mississippi River during rush hour in Minneapolis killing 13 people and injuring over 100 others. Those who survived the disaster were forced to endure more than lost loved ones, debilitating injuries, and tens of millions in financial loss – they faced the prospect of a state government denying its responsibility to keep the bridge safe for its citizens and to help them recover from harm.
We did the right thing in Minnesota by creating a special compensation fund appropriating $38 million for distribution to the survivors via a special master panel. If we had not created the fund, victims of the collapse would have been forced to fight the state through months of litigation only to receive minimal compensation because of the state’s immunity protections.
Ken Feinberg’s column yesterday struck a chord of concern with me and others concerned about government accountability to its citizens. While Feinberg’s concern for unwarranted precedent is valid in some ways (particularly where a compensation fund has no appropriation limit like the 9/11 Fund), no responsible public official can deny our duty to protect the public from harm caused by government action. In those circumstances where government responsibility is certain and no alternative recourse is viable, a compensation fund is necessary.
Mr. Feinberg may be correct that we should not use as a model the precise fund that he administered, but the principle of government providing direct compensation to those injured by its actions is sound. All states and the federal government have established barriers to citizens recovering from the government for injuries. With states and the federal government unwilling to eliminate those barriers, and public demand for government accountability on the rise, expect to see more of the funds like the one we established in Minnesota. Compensation funds may not resemble the 9/11 fund, but they have a place in a government that is responsible to its citizens.
Ryan Winkler
State Representative, Minnesota
Chief Author: I35W Survivor Compensation Fund
News Items
- Statement on Budget Forecast - (Posted: 2012-12-05 00:00:00)
- Statement on Final I-35 W Bridge Settlement - (Posted: 2012-11-13 00:00:00)
- Rep. Winkler: Tea Party Activists Can’t Be Trusted to Reform Our Elections - (Posted: 2012-11-01 00:00:00)
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