Daschle Makes New Offer on Asbestos
By Matt Brady
NU Online News Service, Sept. 16, 1:30 p.m. EDT, Washington?Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., has written Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., offering several concessions to Sen. Frist's last proposal for an alternative trust fund for asbestos litigation.[@@]
The letter expressed Mr. Daschle's hope that negotiations to establish the fund can be completed during the current session.
However, despite the latest concessions, insurance industry opposition makes it unlikely that work on the legislation can be completed this year; however, they could form the basis for quick action next year.
Insurance group representatives said they have major problems with the principles behind the current asbestos legislation, including the trust fund itself, how companies within the industry will be assessed for their contribution, and the timing of industry contributions.
On the timing issue, the industry wants to dole out its contributions over the entire 27.5-year life of the fund, while Sen. Daschle's proposals call for most of the industry contribution to be made within the first six years the fund is in existence.
"The positions I have taken for over a year have consistently illustrated strong commitment to developing a bipartisan solution to the asbestos crisis," Sen. Daschle wrote in the letter, noting several other senators that have been involved in the process and several of the developments of the past year.
"I continue to remain committed to this goal and am hopeful that resolution can be achieved during the remainder of the session," he wrote.
Specifically, Sen. Daschle's latest proposal accepts Sen. Frist's position of a fund of $140 billion, which would include $4 billion from business and industry as well as existing asbestos trust funds.
Previously, Sen. Daschle had called for a fund of $141 billion in addition to the existing $4 billion. The start-up funding for the trust has also been clarified under the new proposal from the previous version of $42 billion over three to five years to the same amount over three years.
Additionally, the new Daschle proposal would include, with two minor exceptions, all asbestos cases that have already scheduled a trial date. Those cases would have remained in the judicial system under the previous proposal.
"While creating a national asbestos trust fund is unquestionably an extraordinarily complex undertaking, too much progress has been made to let this issue go unaddressed in this Congress," Sen. Daschle said in the letter. "It is my belief that this proposal could serve as the basis for legislation that could pass the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support."
After several stops and starts in the negotiations, many in Washington have given long odds of any asbestos legislation being passed this year. Should no bill get through, Sen. Daschle suggests in his letter that the Senate "make a thorough review of the new and additional information that has become available" in the past year since negotiations began.
The Minority Leader's latest proposal drew the praise of one prominent member of his party. Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., lauded Sen. Daschle's effort to reach an agreement and noted the severe importance of resolving the asbestos issue.
"Senator Daschle's counter-proposal today on asbestos legislation further narrows our differences with Senate Republicans as we try to reach a consensus this year," he said. "Our current asbestos litigation system in America is broken. It does not work well in getting meaningful financial help quickly to injured workers and their families, and the system has had a chilling effect on our economy as we try to stem the loss of manufacturing jobs in America."
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