Boat insurance would have to cover owner’s family under proposed state law

The Minnesota House this week approved a bill that would require boat insurance policies cover the owner’s family. Cottage Grove Republican Tony Jurgens warns premiums will go up — a problem when only about 60-percent of Minnesota’s 800-thousand boats are insured. Jurgens asks, “If premiums go up, do you think more boats are gonna be insured, or do you think fewer boats are gonna be insured?” Bill sponsor, Coon Rapids Democrat Zack Stephenson responds, “I would gladly pay the marginal cost of ensuring that my six- and four-year-old daughters are protected when we go out on the boat this summer.” Stephenson says he suspects the overwhelming majority of Minnesota boat owners feel the same.