U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D-PA), Joe Manchin (D-WV), Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) recently introduced legislation to ensure that retired miners receive their pensions and do not lose their health care.
The Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 would shore up the 1974 Pension Plan, which is at risk of insolvency due to coal company bankruptcies and the 2008 financial crisis. It would also protect miners who are at risk of losing their health care due to 2018 and 2019 coal company bankruptcies.
“It is time to keep our promises to the men and women who built our great nation,” Casey said. “Coal miners powered this country for decades, and we need to make sure that they get the pensions and health care they earned. Thousands of Pennsylvania families are counting on us to take action. We must hold a vote and pass the American Miners Act now.”
The bill would amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to transfer funds in excess of the amounts required to meet existing obligations under the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the 1974 Pension Plan to prevent its insolvency. It would also amend the Coal Act to include 2018 and 2019 bankruptcies in the miners’ health care fix that passed in 2017. These actions are expected to secure the pensions of 92,000 coal miners and protect health care benefits for 13,000 miners.
“Year after year, our coal miners risked their lives to bring America the energy needed to become the world leader we are today,” Manchin said. “Our coal miners made a commitment to our country, and now it is our turn to uphold the commitment we made to them in 1946 by securing their hard-earned pensions and healthcare. This is not a solution that can be held off any longer, and we must act now, which is why I am proud to introduce the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 with my colleagues today to secure our commitment to our miners by protecting their pensions and healthcare. I look forward to passing this legislation with all of my colleagues in the near future and getting this to the President’s desk.”
The Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 is also co-sponsored by Senators Rob Portman (R-OH), Doug Jones (D-AL), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ).