Press Release
 

Asbestos Bill Could Leave 913,000 Uncompensated

Study Commissioned By Conservative State
Lawmaker's Group Shows Bill Will
Be A Budget Buster

WASHINGTON D.C. — Today, Bates White, a national economic consulting firm, released a full financial analysis of the asbestos trust fund bill with key findings that the fund will be bankrupt within 1-3 years following inception.

The analysis also shows that claims submitted to the fund will be between $301 billion and $561 billion and the fund will leave as many as 913,000 future claims uncompensated.

The findings, similar to that of the recently released Congressional Budget Office report, provide continued evidence that the proposed fund will be insufficient to compensate victims of asbestos poisoning.

The Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims believes that Congress should not continue with this legislation until the issues highlighted in the Bates White analysis, as well as other problems with the trust fund bill, are resolved. These major problems include:

• The manner in which asbestos victims will be compensated
• The estimates of the number of likely victims who will apply to the fund
• The amount of money needed to effectively compensate all asbestos victims
• Which defendant companies will pay into the fund and how much each will pay
• The inclusion of victims of environmental and naturally occurring asbestos hazards, and
• The amount of heavy borrowing needed to cover the obligations in the first few years potentially contributing to a major deficit.

Susan Vento, Chair of the Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims says, "Asbestos victims deserve for Congress to work to resolve unsettled issues with S. 852 before even considering a vote on the bill. The bill remains unfair to many parties and Congress should not push forward with legislation that will cause further harm to those who suffer the most - the asbestos victims."

The Bates White financial analysis was commissioned by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an association of conservative state lawmakers, and can be found at www.bateswhite.com.

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The Committee to Protect Mesothelioma Victims (CPMV) is an organization founded by asbestos victims and their families and friends. CPMV works to raise awareness on national asbestos issues and ensure that victims' rights are properly represented and protected on both a local and national level. For more information, www.asbestostruth.org.