Congress Session Ending With Asbestos On Backseat

Congress Session Ending With Asbestos On Backseat

By Arthur D. Postal, Washington Bureau Chief

NU Online News Service, Sept. 28, 4:14 p.m. EDT, Washington?In apparent acknowledgement that no deal on asbestos injury legislation is possible this year, Senate Majority Leader William Frist, R-Tenn., has declined to make passage of a bill a priority as the Senate races to end its session.[@@]

He has consented to continued talks over asbestos legislation over the next several weeks, before Oct. 8 when the Senate plans to wrap up business.

Industry lobbyists have been saying for months that no deal is on the horizon to cap the growing cost of claims by workers alleging injury from exposure to the mineral in the workplace.

A lobbyist in Washington, D.C., who asked for anonymity, said at their meetings on the issue insurance representatives have taken to calling the asbestos legislation the "Weekend at Bernie's Bill"?"everybody keeps acting as if it were alive when we really know it's dead."

In a letter to Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., sent yesterday, Sen. Frist agreed with Sen. Daschle's offer to establish a $140 billion trust fund to handle asbestos claims over the next 27.5 years.

But, in his letter to Sen. Daschle, Sen. Frist said other provisions of the Daschle proposal still fall short of what he needs to justify putting the bill on the floor during the next few crowded weeks.

Specifically, Sen. Frist cited concerns about provisions in Sen. Daschle's bill on the extent of claims that must be paid within the first 90 days the trust fund is in existence, specific funding terms, claims value, reversion, subrogation and medical screening.

Sen. Frist also said Sen. Daschle's last proposal did not go far enough in eliminating lawsuits once the trust fund is created. "The central public policy goal of the fund is to shut down the broken asbestos tort system we all agree needs to be replaced," he said.

Besides the issues cited by Sen. Frist, it is known that organized labor remains unhappy with the size of the trust fund, which its officials believe is inadequate.

Labor interests also remain concerned about the seeding issue?that is, the timing of contributions to the fund. They want most of the money to be contributed to the fund within the first six years, when the greatest claims are likely to be made, while insurance interests want to contribute their $44 billion share equally over the 27.5-year life of the fund.