Gov. Mark Dayton is proposing legislation to increase the pension available to the family of a Minnesota Department of Transportation employee who was killed last week while working on flood response.
Mike Struck is survived by his wife and two young children. Current law provides a survivor's pension of $191 a month. Dayton is proposing $2,000 a month, which is similar to the survivor's pension for a state patrol officer killed in the line of duty.
"Mike Struck gave his life in service of the people of Minnesota," Dayton said in a news release. "It would be shameful to leave his widow and her two young children with a pension of less than $2300 a year. My proposed legislation shows them the compassion that their terrible loss deserves. The people of Minnesota will know in their hearts that this is the right thing to do."