MORGANTOWN — The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee approved bills protecting miners’ healthcare and pensions Wednesday. Both will head to the full House. Lawmakers and the miners’ union celebrated the passage in press releases.
Rep. David McKinley, R-W.Va., is lead sponsor of the Miners Pension Protection Act, HR 935, which would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to require the Treasury Department to transfer additional funds to the pension plan from excess Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund money. The bill also increases the annual limit on transfers from $490 million to $750 million.
The bill has more than 80 cosponsors, McKinley said.
“The window for addressing the looming insolvency of miners pensions is closing quickly,” he said. “While I am thrilled that our pension bill has passed out of committee, we still need Speaker Pelosi to bring it to the House floor for a vote. More than 70 years ago a promise was made by the federal government to our miners. These men and women deserve better and this Congress has a chance to provide them with the certainty they deserve.”
By 2022, McKinley explained, the UMWA’s pension fund will reach insolvency and pension benefits for more than 100,000 miners and their families will be cut.
“We have been leading this fight for six years in congress and it’s past time for Congress to act,” McKinley said. “We need to keep our promise to these miners, so they have peace of mind. Congress must act before the end of the year to address this issue once and for all.”
Following the vote out of committee Rep. McKinley, said, he led a bipartisan letter to Speaker Pelosi, urging her to take the bill to the floor quickly. Signers included all nine original bipartisan co-sponsors, among them McKinley’s West Virginia colleagues Carol Miller and Alex Mooney.
The committee also passed HR 934, the Health Benefits For Miners Act.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., led a press conference on these issues last week and praised committee passage of the bills. He called on Majority leader Mitch McConnell to bring up his bipartisan legislation, the American Miners Act, a twin to HR 935, up for a vote.
“I applaud the House Natural Resources Committee for passing legislation today that will secure healthcare and pensions of our hardworking coal miners,” he said. “West Virginians understand how hard our coal miners have worked to power our great country. Now, Congress must act to secure their hard earned pensions and healthcare. … That’s why today I am calling on Mitch McConnell to bring up the American Miners Act immediately. A pension is a promise and we must act now to protect the pensions and healthcare our miners have earned and deserve.”
The United Mine Workers of America also praised the passage.
“This is a tremendous first step for our retirees whose
pensions and health care are under threat,” UMWA International President Cecil
E. Roberts said. “We have been fighting to move this pension legislation
forward for nearly a decade in the House. Today’s vote is the culmination of a
lot of hard work and action by our members and our allies on Capitol Hill.”
Action on the floor of the House needs to occur as soon as possible so that the
legislation can be sent to the Senate and acted upon this year, the UMWA said. “Failure
by the full Congress to pass HR 934 will cause 1,200 retirees to lose their
health care at the end of this year. The pensions of 82,000 current and 10,000
future retirees could be slashed within months if HR 935 is not passed this
year.”
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