Asbestos Showdown in October?

This article from Reuters discusses the pending legislative battle over the Asbestos FAIR Act of 2005 in the U.S. Senate. Senator Arlen Specter, an original sponsor of the bill hopes that it will come up for a vote in the first week of October.

This piece of legislation would create a $140 billion dollar asbestos compensation fund. The bill would remove all asbestos claims from the courts and set up medical criteria and payment guidelines.

The fund would be financed by private businesses involved in the manufacturing, selling and use of asbestos products and would be administered by the Department of Labor.