Asbestos Health Hazards Compensation Act
Latest action. Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
Asbestos Health Hazards Compensation Act - Title I: General Provisions - States the findings and purpose of this Act. Title II: Claims for Benefits Accruing on or before December 31, 1979 - Entitles any person whose occupation involves exposure to asbestos (or a member of such person's household) and whose disability (or death) is due to an asbestos-related disease to benefits for claims accruing and/or arising on or before December 31, 1979. Directs the Secretary of Labor to prescribe standards for determining whether an affected person is disabled due to asbestos-related disease or whether the death of an affected person was due to such disease. Specifies the amounts of benefits to be paid to such person. Entitles any affected person who is not entitled to medical expenses for the treatment of an asbestos-related disease under a State workers' compensation law to such payments under this Act. Title III: Claims for Benefits Accruing After December 31, 1979 - Provides that the responsibility for benefit payments accruing and/or arising on or after January 1, 1980 shall be borne equally by the United States and the "responsible parties," defined to mean any entity engaged in: (1) the manufacture and first sale of any product or substance containing asbestos; (2) the import for sale or distribution of products containing asbestos; and (3) the manufacture and first sale or import for sale or distribution of cigarettes or cigarette tobacco. Establishes within the Department of Labor the Asbestos Health Hazards Compensation Fund for the satisfaction of all valid claims for benefits under this title. Establishes a Board of Directors for the Fund and sets forth the duties of the Board. Provides for the development and maintenance of the Fund by means of equal contributions from the responsible parties and the United States. Classifies responsible parties into three groups, according to the products and substances with which their business is concerned and the likelihood that asbestos dust will be produced. Sets forth the formulas for the contribution of responsible parties in each class to the Fund. Directs the Secretary, with the advice and concurrence of the Director of the Internal Revenue Service, to insure that such contributions are collected from the responsible parties.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in House" stage on March 8, 1979. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on March 8, 1979: Referred to House Committee on Education and Labor.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the House
- Passage by the Senate
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 96th Congress (1979-80), 613 of the 12,581 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 4.9 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
MILLICENT FENWICK (R-NJ) introduced it on March 8, 1979. No cosponsors are recorded.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on March 8, 1979, 17353 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 17353 days ago, on March 8, 1979.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 96th Congress has not finished by January 3, 1981 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- HouseIn committee, no floor vote yet
- SenateAwaits House passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers