Talks Continue On Elusive Asbestos Bill

Talks Continue On Elusive Asbestos Bill

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, April 29, 11:22 a.m. EDT, Washington?The prognosis for asbestos litigation reform legislation remains guarded following the recent failed bid to prevent a filibuster.

Talks to try and reach an agreement began Monday, said Gary Karr, a representative of the Washington-based American Insurance Association, but as of this writing, there was no indication that a workable compromise is in the offing.

It seems, he said, that any compromise will be elusive when two main constituents of the Democratic Party, trial lawyers and labor, remain opposed to the proposal.

Labor, Mr. Karr said, has given no indication that it is interested in moving toward a compromise.

Labor is insisting that the current proposed trust fund of $114 billion, with an additional $10 billion in contingency funding from defendants, is too small. Labor has said that the size of the fund should be $156 billion.

But it is causing some frustration, Mr. Karr said, that labor has not yet produced any justification for the numbers it is presenting.

It is difficult to see how an agreement can be reached, he said, but that is not to say that an agreement cannot be reached.

Anne Sittmann, a representative with the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said that at press time, meetings between Congressional staff and representatives of defendants, labor and the trial bar were continuing, with the negotiations focusing on the claims projections.

She added that the insurance industry remains united in support of a maximum contribution to the fund of $46 billion.

The industry, Ms. Sittmann said, is also working on remaining unresolved issues such as workers' compensation subrogation.