Here’s the latest on the asbestos bill, from TheHill.com:
An upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on asbestos-injury-liability reform will give Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) a chance to counter a critical report about his bill and rejuvenate his effort to move the legislation forward.
The hearing, scheduled for next Thursday, could be viewed as a response to a recent report by the economics-consulting firm Bates White, which concluded that Specter’s proposed trust fund to pay asbestos claims will go bankrupt.
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Specter’s decision to call a hearing on a bill his committee has already marked is a break with the Senate’s usual practice. He could be seeking to repair any damage the Bates White report may have inflicted on his legislation’s future.
If the trust fund were to run dry, the legislation would allow claimants to file lawsuits. Politically, however, it could prove difficult for Congress to allow a trust fund to disappear. The federal government could be left to foot the bill itself or squeeze additional money from the private sector.
Specter’s hearing will include analysts who will no doubt impugn the Bates White study, which the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council commissioned. Other independent reports have drawn more optimistic conclusions about the fiscal soundness of the fund.
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Specter originally scheduled the hearing for Monday. Sources said he moved it back amid complaints that committee members and others would sparsely attend a hearing on a Monday — a day Senate committees rarely convene.
For the entire article, visit Judiciary panel to revisit asbestos by Jeffrey Young at TheHill.com.