The Minnesota Senate on Thursday unanimously agreed to rename a Minneapolis bridge for the late Sen. Kari Dziedzic, the former DFL leader who died late last year after a battle with cancer.

The amendment was tacked onto a transportation funding package and would name the 10th Avenue bridge in Minneapolis — which runs parallel to the Interstate 35W bridge across the Mississippi River — the "Minnesota Senate Majority Leader Kari Dziedzic Memorial Bridge."

Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, also a Democrat from Minneapolis who brought the proposal forward, said Dziedzic was a longtime advocate for the bridge and public infrastructure investments.

"It is fitting that this project that should bear her name is a bridge. In a very real way, Kari served as a bridge from city to state, from member to member, from caucus to caucus, Senate to House, from elected officials to constituents," Mohamed said. "Maybe most important, Kari was a bridge between generations, from the ones that came before her to the one she came of age, and then again, from hers to mine. I want that legacy of service to continue to be handed down. I want someday, many years from now, for someone to be crossing this bridge and to ask, 'Who was Kari Dziedzic?'"

Dziedzic served northeast Minneapolis, Cedar-Riverside and Dinkytown for 12 years. She was beloved and respected by Democrats and Republicans alike, who remember her fondly for her ability to find common ground in a closely divided Legislature.

When the DFL had total control of the capitol, they elected her to be their leader in 2023 before she stepped down early last year to focus on her health.

"It is appropriate that it is a bridge, not a lane of highway or anything like that, but a bridge that Senator Dziedzic will be remembered by. I very much appreciate the bridges that she built with me and with the caucus that I represent here, the Senate Republicans," said Senate Minority Leader Mark Johnson, a Republican from East Grand Forks.

The larger budget bill that includes the bridge designation is poised to pass the chamber Thursday. Lawmakers were still debating other parts of it as of early Thursday afternoon.

Once it advances, the provisions will be subject to end-of-session negotiations with the House and DFL Gov. Tim Walz.

Note: The video above originally aired Dec. 28, 2024.