$140 billion: Utah's senators wanted to move the bill to a final vote, but they came up short
Salt Lake Tribune, Thomas Burr
Published February 15, 2006
WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday blocked a final vote on legislation creating a national trust fund for victims of asbestos-related illnesses.
Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both Utah Republicans, voted to move the legislation to a final vote, even though Bennett supports a different approach.
Hatch backs the $140 billion, privately paid fund to keep trial lawyers from taking large portions of the monies meant for victims; but Bennett says the better way is to define asbestos-related illnesses and let the courts deal with the claims.
The U.S. Supreme Court has twice struck down general asbestos settlements and invited Congress to find a solution.
Opponents of the trust fund Tuesday argued the measure violates the budget act and used a procedural move to stall it; 59 senators initially voted to move forward, just shy of the 60 votes needed to move toward a final vote.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist switched his vote at the last minute to make it 58 in favor, a procedural move that allows him to bring the bill up again.
Utah ranks 43rd out of the 50 states for the number of asbestos- or mesothelium-related deaths from 1979 to 2001, according to the Environmental Working Group, which says the state had 155 to 211 deaths during that period.
Nationwide, the group says up to nearly 60,000 people have died because of those illnesses during that period.
The proposed legislation would create a government administrator to handle claims by victims who could prove a related illness, and companies that become involved would pay on a tier-based system and then be exempt from lawsuits. Some fear, though, that the trust would end up costing taxpayers and hurting those who want benefits for asbestos illnesses.
Hatch, a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 852, says the legislation would provide "real compensation to real victims with real injuries."
"This bill stops a rampaging trial bar," Hatch said on the Senate floor recently. "This bill fixes a broken legal system that benefits trial lawyers and provides certainty to everyone involved."
Some senators may call this "special-interest legislation," Hatch added. "Well, if helping sick people and preventing fraud constitutes special-interest action, then I am proud to support this special-interest legislation."
Bennett, however, disagrees with that approach and wants instead to define in medical terms who should receive benefits from asbestos-related illnesses, a way to essentially "weed-out" bad lawsuits and make way for victims of the exposure.
"There is a great uprising of demand that we do something about this," Bennett also said on the Senate floor. "The Congress should act on this; we do need a national solution."
His fear, he says, is that smaller companies will have to foot the bill, or go bankrupt trying, while larger companies would skate on paying their fair share.
Rep. Chris Cannon, another Utah Republican, essentially sides with Bennett on the trust fund, and is sponsoring a bill in the House, with 60 co-sponsors, that would leave the claims in the courts with tighter guidance on medical standards.
"My bill is about people who are really sick and who don't have the time to cut through reams and reams of bureaucratic red tape," Cannon said.
