Latest on the senate asbestos bill

Have you been wondering what’s going on with the senate asbestos bill?

Nov. 2 — The U.S. Congress is putting off a series of contentious issues until 2006, an election year when lawmakers may find it difficult to pass them.

Congress has up to six weeks left in this legislative year, and its docket is full with work on spending bills for federal agencies, responding to the Gulf Coast hurricanes and considering the nomination of Appellate Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court.

This is from an articled entitled Congress Puts Off Tough Issues Until 2006, Imperiling Prospects from Bloomberg.com. Here’s what the author had to say about the asbestos fund:

Other issues, such as a proposal to end litigation over asbestos by creating a $140 billion trust fund to compensate those sickened by the substance, will likely require extended negotiations to reach agreements that can be approved by Congress.

Matthew Webb, a lobbyist for the Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business organization, said companies want to see the asbestos plan pushed through the Senate this year. Payments from the trust would be financed by companies that made asbestos products, such as Chicago-based USG Corp., the world’s largest wallboard maker, and their insurers.

“Companies are losing tons of money with the litigation,” Webb said. “We’re hopeful they’re going to move it forward as soon as they possibly can.”

Republican Senator George Allen of Virginia said stem cell research shouldn’t have a prime slot on the lawmakers’ agenda.

“If nothing happens on stem cells, it’s not the end of the world,” he said. “Research on embryonic stem cells will go on, financed by states and the private sector.” A resolution of the asbestos issue, Allen said, “is a must-do.”