The protracted establishment of a $US140 billion asbestos compensation fund may actually be getting somewhere, as approval of the bill behind the fund looks on the verge of gaining approval from a US Senate committee.

The bill, which needs three more committee supporters before it reaches the Senate floor, proposes taking asbestos claims out the courts and paying them from a fund financed by defendant companies and their insurers.

Support from Democrats – thought to be due to intense lobbying of Democrats from plantiff lawyers determined to keep the cases in court – has been particularly difficult, with Senator Edward Kennedy indicating many from his party have “serious reservations.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter, who co-sponsored the measure, says the panel should do whatever it takes to finish work on the bill by the end of the month, though 88 further amendments are still pending.

Last week an amendment to see the sickest asbestos victims paid fastest gained approval.