St. Paul-Governor Mark Dayton today proposed legislation that would increase by 10 times the pension for the family of Mike Struck, a MnDOT employee who was killed last week while working on emergency flood response. He is survived by his wife, Amber, and two children, ages six and four.

Under current law, Mr. Struck's family would receive a survivor's pension of only $191 a month. This bill would increase that amount to almost $2,000 a month, similar to that of the family of a state patrol officer, who was killed in the line of duty.

Governor Dayton said, "Mike Struck gave his life in service of the people of Minnesota. 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.

The bill will be introduced with bipartisan support.