House approves annual claims bill, clearing $65,000 exoneration payment and $6,500 injury claim

The Minnesota House passed Senate File 3446, the annual claims bill addressing certain claims against the state, by a recorded vote of 133-0.

Representative Frederick, the member from Blue Earth, presented the bill on the floor and described the types of claims the measure covers. "This is the annual claims bill," Representative Frederick said, explaining that the joint subcommittee on claims handles cases not covered by ordinary tort processes. He described typical claims as exoneration claims for wrongfully convicted people and property or injury claims arising from vocational or correctional work programs.

Representative Frederick outlined the amounts included in the bill: a $65,000 exoneration claim and a $6,500 personal injury claim. After brief discussion and no amendments at the desk, the chief clerk gave the bill its third reading. The clerk closed the roll and announced, "There being 133 yays and 0 nays, the bill is passed and its title agreed to." The bill advances as passed by the House.

The annual claims bill provides the legislature’s vehicle for approving payments where other remedies are not available or appropriate; the claims cited on the floor included compensation for a person found to be innocent and a payment for a workplace injury.