Vote on Newest Asbestos FACT Act Possible Before End of Year

Legislators are again considering a bill that will legally hurt asbestos victims and rob them of their privacy if Congress approves it. At the start of 2015, U.S. Rep. Blake Farenthold, R-Texas, introduced the newest version of the Furthering Asbestos Claims Transparency (FACT) Act, also known as H.R. 526. The bill would place heavy burdens on the asbestos trusts established by negligent companies to compensate workers and their families who are affected by asbestos. The proposed legislation seeks to add costly reporting requirements that will delay compensation, as well as public disclosure of sensitive and private information such as partial Social Security numbers, work histories and other personal data. “It might be voted on before the end of the year, but we’re not 100 percent sure,” Farenthold’s spokeswoman told Asbestos.com. GovTrack, a website that helps users track bills through Congress and predicts their success rate, gives the House version of the FACT Act an 11 percent chance of being enacted. Supporters of the bill claim the measure protects victims by warding off fraudulent claims to the asbestos trust funds. Current state and federal laws consider trust fund negotiations private and confidential, not subject to discovery or admissible in court cases. Activist Susan Vento Leads FACT Act Opposition Susan Vento describes her late husband, U.S. Rep. Bruce Vento, D-Minnesota, as a hardworking public servant. Vento died in 2000 after an eight-month...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - Category: Environmental Health Authors: Tags: Legislation, Laws & Litigation Source Type: news