Committee advances bill to study and standardize suicide-prevention measures on bridges

The Transportation and Finance and Policy Committee moved House File 3169 to the general register on March 18, 2026, after adopting a committee amendment that sponsors said would let the state study and standardize suicide-prevention measures on public bridges.

Representative Olson, sponsor of HF3169, told the committee the bill would set requirements for a study on barriers and other prevention measures for bridges and related infrastructure and said conversations with the Minnesota Department of Transportation produced a version that he said would impose "0 cost" to the state while allowing agencies to implement life-saving changes.

Advocates and family members urged swift action. Eric Michie, CEO of SAVE (Suicide Awareness Voices of Education), said the bill "will, for the first time, put in statute the requirements that we integrate best practices, pedestrian safety, and suicide prevention measures on public bridges in the state of Minnesota." Michie added the group "wholeheartedly endorse[s] this policy."

MJ Weisblayer, who identified herself as a parent of a child lost to suicide, told the committee that consistent data collection and evidence-based safety measures are essential because "these losses are not abstract. They are deeply human, deeply painful, and deeply permanent."

Trish Morello, cofounder of the Coalition for Suicide Prevention and Public Infrastructure (CSPPI), testifying remotely, described a successful barrier installation on the Natchez Trace Parkway bridge and said a few extra minutes provided by a barrier can allow intervention: "Any few extra seconds or minutes or hours ... can mean the difference between life and death." She urged the committee to place Minnesota "at the forefront of a growing proactive approach by state agencies to treat bridge safety as a public health issue."

After brief committee discussion and the adoption of the DE1 amendment offered by Representative Olson, the committee signaled support and the chair renewed the motion to move the bill as amended to the general register; the motion prevailed by voice vote.

The committee did not record a roll-call tally for the final motion. The next procedural step for HF3169 is consideration by the body identified on the general register.

The committee hearing record contains testimony endorsing the statutory study, references to prior local projects such as the Washington Avenue bridge, and requests for consistent statewide collection of safety and incident data.

The committee laid no further amendments on the record at the time of the motion; sponsors said they sought to proceed without a fiscal impact by coordinating with MnDOT.