Legislators have introduced a “high and dry” bill at the Minnesota state capitol.

The bill was inspired by more than a dozen Minnesota families who are out more than a million dollars paid to a pool contractor, Charles Workman, owner of MN Crete Pools LLC, for pools that were never built or were left incomplete.

The bill is intended to close a gap in the existing law. There is currently a state recovery fund for families who lost money to contractors, but money lost to swimming pool contractors is not included.

Authored by Rep. Jim Nash, it was introduced by Rep. Andrew Myers on April 11.

“This is a large expense that people put, they invest, into their homes, and having a way to recover if they're left high and dry is really important to address those hardships,' Myers said.

Thus, the bill would simply expand the Contractor Recovery Fund to include private pools in the definition of residential property. People who lost money to fraudulent pool contractors would have the same access to recovery funds under the new legislation.

Kyle Swenson was among a handful of Workman’s victims who spoke at the bill’s hearing.

“It seems like a miss, so we're here just to speak from the victim's side to hopefully see if we can close that gap,” Swenson said.