Minnesota Agencies

The bi-partisan committee will review the policies and practices of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) as well as decision-making at the department in response to bridge inspection reports. Additionally, both will serve on a joint House and Senate transportation committee that will oversee the plan to re-build the bridge.

The committee will not focus directly on the physical failures of the bridge, rather the inspection records and procedures of MnDOT, particularly those completed after 1990, when the bridge was first rated structurally deficient.

The Minnesota Legislature established a Joint Committee to Investigate the Bridge Collapse on August 14, 2007, to be comprised of sixteen legislators from both the House and Senate transportation committees. 

In August 2007, the Joint Legislative Committee to Investigate Bridge Collapse asked the Office of the Legislative Auditor to update their 1997 report, Highway Spending: a Program Evaluation Report. The resulting report, State Highways and Bridges, was published in February 2008.

On December 19, 2007, the Minnesota Legislature's Joint Committee announced it had authorized the spending of up to $500,000 to the law firm Gray Plant Moody for an investigation into MnDOT and the I-35W Bridge collapse. On May 21, 2008 the Joint Committee released their report, Investigative Report to Joint Committee to Investigate the I-35W Bridge Collapse.

The Committee met five times between October 3, 2007 and June 24, 2008. 

Eight members from both the House and Senate. 

House Members: Representative Bernie Lieder (Chair); Representative Ron Erhardt; Representative Frank Hornstein; Representative Melissa Hortman; Representative Shelley Madore; Representative Terry Morrow; Representative Neil Peterson; Representative Dan Severson

Senate Members: Senator Steve Murphy (Chair); Senator Jim Carlson; Senator Scott Dibble; Senator Michelle Fischbach; Senator Michael Jungbauer; Senator Amy Koch; Senator Keith Langseth; Senator Kathy Saltzman

Committee Chairs: Rep. Bernie Lieder (House); Sen. Steve Murphy (Senate)