In an unexpected move, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., pulled off a parliamentary maneuver last week so he can make another run at passing legislation to create a trust fund for workers injured by asbestos.
Sen. Specter managed to insert an arcane provision into the Senate version of the annual budget resolution that bars opponents of the asbestos measure from seeking a budget point of order on the bill. The budget point of order was a parliamentary hurdle that allowed opponents to stop further action on the bill last year.
Sen. Specter said he does not plan to reintroduce the exact same measure, and that Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., has agreed to be a co-sponsor.
Last year's bill–the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act–failed to survive a budget point of order and died last February on the Senate floor. The bill, which drew opposition from the insurance industry and most midsized corporations, would have created a $140 billion federally administered fund to resolve claims by those injured by exposure to asbestos in the workplace.
Insurers would have had to contribute $45 billion over 27.5 years to the fund in addition to the portion provided by manufacturers facing asbestos injury cases. After 27.5 years, all claims would revert to the court system.
Carriers objected to a requirement that would have called for insurers to open their books to a commissioner appointed by the president to assess their potential liability.
Also drawing their opposition was the fact that most of their $45 billion in contributions would have been front-loaded–paid within the first five years the fund was in existence.
Sen. Specter said the trust fund legislation will be restructured this year "to make it ironclad that the federal government will not have to pay anything." Instead, the fund would be established by asbestos manufacturers "interested in avoiding the crush of litigation and the attendant costs."
Sen. Specter said Congress would consider establishing a reduced trust fund and is looking at dealing with victims of mesothelioma–a deadly ailment associated with asbestos exposure–while deferring action on those without "tangible damages."
Pat Hanlon, an attorney representing the National Association of Manufacturers, which supported Sen. Specter's bill last year, said, "I don't believe the FAIR Act is under active consideration right now, but other reforms that would include a trust fund are being considered."
William Fay, a representative for the Coalition for Asbestos Reform–a group of midsized asbestos defendants that fought FAIR–said it's unclear whether the amendment by Sen. Specter solves all the budget points of order created by the legislation.
Ben McKay, senior vice president of federal government relations for the Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, said PCI "would support a fair and equitable trust fund bill, but a trust fund that does not provide certainty and finality is unworkable financially and does nothing to ensure that the victims who are truly suffering are compensated first."
In a statement released after the vote approving the budget provision, Sen. Specter said his "amendment preserves hope for asbestos victims who cannot receive compensation from an irrational tort system."
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