Senate Bill 723
Damages in personal injury claims involving asbestos trusts
Stopped in committee
It never got a , so it never came up for a vote. To try again, a lawmaker would have to start a new bill.
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Introduced, passed
Feb 11, 2016
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Committee, stopped here
Stopped here. No public hearing was held.
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Senate vote, not reached
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Assembly vote, not reached
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Governor, not reached
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Law, not reached
Latest entry in the official record, Apr 13, 2016: “Failed to pass pursuant to ”
It never got a hearing in the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety. See every bill that never got a hearing this session.
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Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
What it would have done
Summary by the , the Legislature's nonpartisan drafting office. It's their wording, not ours.
Current law establishes various requirements for a plaintiff claiming damages in a personal injury action involving an exposure to asbestos and brought against one or more defendants, at least one of which is an asbestos trust. Under current law, if a verdict is entered in favor of the plaintiff in such an action and the defendant is found to be 51 percent or more causally negligent or responsible for the plaintiff's entire damages under Wisconsin's contributory negligence law, the plaintiff may not collect any amount of damages until after the plaintiff assigns to the defendant all pending, current, and future rights or claims he or she has or may have for a personal injury claim against an asbestos trust. Current law also provides that, if a verdict is entered in favor of the plaintiff in such an action and the defendant is found to be less than 51 percent causally negligent or responsible for the plaintiff's entire damages, the plaintiff may not collect any amount of damages until after the plaintiff assigns to the defendant all future rights or claims he or she has or may have for a personal injury claim against an asbestos trust.
This bill repeals these provisions concerning damages and the assignment of claims and instead provides the following:
Read the full summary Show less
1) A defendant in a personal injury action involving asbestos exposure that is not an asbestos trust and that is found to be causally negligent is jointly and severally liable for the damages allowed.
2) A defendant described under item 1 may request a postjudgment hearing to determine the total amount of payment received by the plaintiff, before the judgment was entered against that defendant, from one or more asbestos trusts. Such a defendant may receive a dollar-for-dollar credit for any such payment received by the plaintiff.
3) A defendant described under item 1 may request a postjudgment hearing to determine whether the plaintiff had any unpaid claims pending against one or more asbestos trusts. If the court finds any such unpaid claims, the court may order the plaintiff to assign to the defendant his or her unpaid claims only if the plaintiff will be made whole by the judgment.
4) If a court orders an assignment under item 3, the plaintiff must work with the defendant to obtain amounts due from each asbestos trust pursuant to the trust's governance documents.
5) If the court orders an assignment under item 3, each claim the defendant files pursuant to the assignment is to be treated as if the plaintiff submitted the claim.
Who's behind it
4 senators are its . All 4 are Democrats.
21 more lawmakers .
See all 25 names Hide the names
Authors (4)
- Chris Larson · Democrat, Senate
- Julie M. Lassa · Democrat, Senate
- Janis Ringhand · Democrat, Senate
- Kathleen Vinehout · Democrat, Senate
Signed on in support (21)
- Terese Berceau · Democrat, Assembly
- Jonathan Brostoff · Democrat, Assembly
- Chris Taylor · Democrat, Assembly
- Dave Considine · Democrat, Assembly
- Chris Danou · Democrat, Assembly
- Evan Goyke · Democrat, Assembly
- Dianne Hesselbein · Democrat, Senate
- LaTonya Johnson · Democrat, Senate
- Andy Jorgensen · Democrat, Assembly
- Frederick Kessler · Democrat, Assembly
- Cory Mason · Democrat, Assembly
- Nick Milroy · Democrat, Assembly
- Tod Ohnstad · Democrat, Assembly
- Sondy Pope · Democrat, Assembly
- Katrina Shankland · Democrat, Assembly
- Christine Sinicki · Democrat, Assembly
- Mark Spreitzer · Democrat, Senate
- Lisa Subeck · Democrat, Assembly
- Dana Wachs · Democrat, Assembly
- JoCasta Zamarripa · Democrat, Assembly
- Josh Zepnick · Democrat, Assembly
What happened
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Apr 13, 2016
The session ended, and the bill died with it.
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Feb 11, 2016
Sent to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety.
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Feb 11, 2016
Introduced in the Senate.
See the official record, word for word Hide the official record
- Feb 11, 2016 · Senate
Introduced by Senators Vinehout, C. Larson, Ringhand and Lassa; cosponsored by Representatives Wachs, Hesselbein, Milroy, Danou, Jorgensen, Mason, Kessler, Berceau, Goyke, Shankland, Sinicki, Considine, Zepnick, Ohnstad, Spreitzer, Johnson, Brostoff, Pope, C. Taylor, Zamarripa and Subeck
- Feb 11, 2016 · Senate
Read first time and referred to Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety
- Apr 13, 2016 · Senate
Failed to pass pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1
Terms on this page
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1. More in the glossary
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis. More in the glossary
Author
A lawmaker who formally puts a bill forward. The text itself is drafted by the Legislative Reference Bureau.
Official term: Author, coauthor. More in the glossary
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor. More in the glossary
From the Wisconsin Legislature's official record, checked Sep 15, 2026. See the source
Committee
A small group of lawmakers that looks at a bill first. Most bills never leave committee.
Public hearing
A meeting where anyone can speak to a committee about a bill, or send written comments.
Senate Joint Resolution 1
The session's calendar. Any bill not passed by its last voting day dies.
Official term: Failed to pass pursuant to SJR 1
Legislative Reference Bureau
The Legislature's nonpartisan office that drafts bills and writes the summary at the top of each one.
Official term: LRB analysis
Signed on in support
Lawmakers who back a bill without being one of its authors, often from the other chamber.
Official term: Cosponsor