Study good use of funds

A plan to fund research of a rare cancer afflicting Iron Range miners is good news.
And it makes sense to take that money — $4.9 million — from a Department of Commerce-administered fund that is running a surplus. That action avoids using the special workers’ compensation fund, which could have resulted in premium increases for all businesses that fund it. While funding the research is critical, it’s nearly as critical to keep the already-high costs of doing business in the state from increasing.
The Legislature has sent a bill to Minnesota’s governor providing money for an exhaustive study of a rare lung cancer that’s hit especially hard on the Iron Range. The House voted 121 to one to support a $4.9 million allocation to the research, following a unanimous vote on Monday in the state Senate.
The action came after northeastern Minnesota DFLers and Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty reached a compromise on the funding. That bipartisan effort on this important issue is also good news.
The state Health Department has said 58 deaths in northeastern Minnesota are blamed on mesothelioma, usually caused by asbestos. The disease has turned up in dozens of taconite miners.
And the idea of using our state’s premier research institution, the University of Minnesota, for the four-phase study makes sense. The research will allow students and faculty participating in the study to increase their knowledge of the disease as well as the processes used to study it. And that can benefit the larger community in the future.
The study is expected to take up to five years to complete and will include an analysis of death records and screening of current and former workers and their families.
Lawmakers will get updates on the findings throughout the study, which should include recommendations for reducing exposure to the materials believed to cause the cancer.
No one should become ill or fear becoming ill simply because of the work they do to earn a living. The funding will help provide important answers that could save lives.