Capitol Beat
Monday, August 25th, 2003 Catastrophe Liability PropertyThe U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee voted 10-8 for a measure to ban asbestos lawsuits and compensate victims of asbestos-related ailments from a privately funded trust of up to $153 billion. The proposed bill has generated much controversy. Insurers threatened to withdraw support after their contribution to the proposed trust was increased from $45 billion to $52 billion. Labor organizations believe that the proposed awards, as low as $25,000 for an asbestosis victim who also was a smoker, were not enough. The activist group, USAction, calls the bill a corporate raid, saying that assets currently available to asbestos victims total $21.4 billion, but that under the proposed trust, those assets would be decreased by $15.5 billion. Despite disappointment in the increased funds expected from insurers, the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies expressed optimism for the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act of 2003.
