Gov. Mark Dayton, who vetoed a package of GOP-backed tort overhaul bills last month, gave one tort-related bill his blessing Thursday.
The governor signed into law an uncontroversial and obscure bill that will lower state and local governments' liability to certain lawsuits. The bill sailed through the Senate last year with unanimous support and passed the House last week with only a single dissenting vote.
It tweaks a few sentences in a longer statute that outlines when and how much you can sue your state or local governments in cases of wrongful death, wrongful actions or other mayhem.The new law would cap governments' liability to $1 million in claims filed because of "a single occurrence, if the claim involves nonprofit corporations engaged in or administering outdoor recreational activities funded or operating under a government-issued permit." The cap restores tort liability in those cases to pre-2008 levels.
The amount state or a local government can pay out for other types of claims is remains capped at $1.5 million. The limit on payouts to individual claimants remains capped at $500,000.
