Story originally printed in the Winona Daily News or online at www.winonadailynews.com
Published - Friday, May 02, 2008
AP NewsBreak: Deal reached for Minnesota bridge collapse victims
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) _ State lawmakers said Friday they reached a $38 million agreement to compensate victims of the Minneapolis bridge collapse that killed 13 people and injured 145 others.
Rep. Ryan Winkler and Sen. Ron Latz told The Associated Press that a House and Senate conference committee agreed to the deal overnight. The full Legislature was expected to approve the compromise Monday and send it to the governor, who supports it.
"It provides needed relief and support for victims and family members directly impacted by the I-35W bridge tragedy," Gov. Tim Pawlenty said.
The plan addresses a key sticking point in committee negotiations — whether to recognize the state's liability limit by capping awards to individual victims. The deal would allow all victims to get up to $400,000 each. For the worst injured, an extra $12.6 million is available to cover uncompensated medical expenses, ongoing health insurance costs and lost wages.
Under the compromise, an appointed panel could make settlement offers by the end of February. Victims would have 45 days to decide whether to take them. If they did, they would have to sign away the right to sue the state and other government bodies in Minnesota.
"We believe this will be an offer which the survivors would be well advised to accept," Latz said at a Capitol news conference.
Jennifer Holmes, who lost her husband, Patrick, in the collapse, thanked lawmakers and said she plans to take the settlement to avoid the waiting and uncertainty she would face if she sued the state.
"There is no way possible that we can get that day back," Holmes said. "Or get back what we have been through in losing our loved ones or going through numerous surgeries that people are still doing. But this does help in making sure that we have a safe future."
The bridge buckled and collapsed into the Mississippi River during the evening rush hour, sending cars and construction equipment into the water and leaving a yellow school bus and other vehicles clinging precariously to tilting pavement. It took divers almost three weeks to recover all the bodies.
The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the collapse. Officials have focused on a design flaw involving beam-connecting steel plates and the weight of construction materials at vulnerable points in the bridge. Victim lawsuits are on hold until a final determination is made.
"It's nine months after the bridge collapse," Winkler said. "The Legislature has finally acted and done something for these people to feel like they're not being forgotten."
Chris Messerly, an attorney for many victims of the Aug. 1 collapse, said the deal will help them move on.
"For many people, this will be closure for them and that is so critically important," Messerly said.
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