Ala. Legislators Caught ‘Authoring’ Bills From Asbestos Industry Front Group
EWG Action Fund Launches Campaign on How Cut-and-Paste Asbestos Bills Hurt Veterans
Contact: Alex Formuzis
(202) 667-6982
alex@ewg.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2019
WASHINGTON – Two Alabama lawmakers attached their names to legislation, written by a shadowy asbestos industry front group, that would deny or delay justice for sick and dying asbestos victims, according to a sweeping investigation by a team of watchdog journalists.
In a two-year investigation, reporters with USA Today, The Arizona Republic and the Center for Public Integrity identified 10,000 bills introduced in state legislatures nationwide that were “almost entirely copied” from a model bill written by special interest organizations, including many by the American Legislative Exchange Council, a prominent right-wing bill mill.
A number of the ALEC bills lawmakers copied and introduced under their own names target victims suffering from asbestos-triggered diseases. In Alabama, the ALEC-written Asbestos Transparency Act was introduced by two Republican lawmakers: Sen. Dan Roberts and Rep. Jim Carns.
The legislation creates a series of delays designed to run out the clock on asbestos victims and their families who are seeking damages for their illnesses in court. Most people sick with diseases caused from asbestos exposure, like mesothelioma, die within months of diagnosis. Mesothelioma is an incurable cancer caused only by asbestos exposure.
According to the investigation, behind the ALEC bill were insurance companies, including Nationwide, Travelers, AIG and CNA, who represent corporations that made or used asbestos. These corporations and their insurers are looking to limit their exposure to billions of dollars in litigation associated with asbestos. Since 2012, the legislation has been introduced in at least 17 states and become law in 11.
If the proposals put forth by Sen. Roberts and Rep. Carns at the behest of the asbestos and insurance industries were to become law, any Alabaman sickened from asbestos disease would have to navigate a series of difficult, time-consuming administrative procedures before even stepping foot in a courtroom.
Military service members, especially those in the Navy, were heavily exposed to asbestos for decades through its use in ships, equipment and buildings. It is estimated that one in three victims of mesothelioma is a veteran.
“I’m not sure what’s more outrageous,” said Michael Little, ABH2, (AW/SW), UNS (IRR), Executive Director, Sea Service Family Foundation and noted veterans advocate. “That Roberts and Carns support a proposal that would deny justice to Alabamans dying from asbestos exposure, or that they serve as mere stenographers for asbestos corporations seeking to avoid paying just compensation for poisoning an entire generation.”
Legal experts and family members of asbestos victims have examined the impacts of the legislation and believe that if the proposal becomes law, many victims will not live long enough to see any compensation from the companies responsible for sickening them.
For lawmakers like Roberts and Carns, copying model legislation such as the asbestos bills “is an easy way to get fully formed bills to put their names on, while building relationships with lobbyists and other potential campaign donors,” the investigation said.
EWG Action Fund has launched a new project highlighting the outsize burden veterans face from asbestos, which will track state asbestos legislation, including lawmakers introducing the proposals at the behest of industry.
An EWG Action Fund analysis of the most recently available federal mortality data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 1999 and 2013, more than 3,100 residents of Alabama died from asbestos-triggered diseases.
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