The federal government and coal operators would be required to honor the lifetime pensions earned by retired miners under a bipartisan bill reintroduced by U.S. Sens. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) and Rob Portman (R-OH) on Tuesday.
The Miners Protection Act would ensure that retired miners receive lifetime pensions and health benefits by transferring excess funds from the Abandoned Mine Land fund to the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) 1974 Pension Plan to avoid insolvency.
The Senate approved a continuing resolution in December that included funding to sustain the miners’ retirement fund through April.
“I was very disappointed that the continuing resolution the Senate passed in December extended healthcare coverage to our miners for only four months,” Capito said. “I am committed to working with my colleagues in the Trump administration and Congress to protect health benefits for West Virginia’s miners, and the bill I am introducing (on Tuesday) is the first step to making that a reality. At the same time, we must also advance policies that will put our miners back to work and rebuild local economies that rely on energy production.”
The 2008 financial crisis contributed to the plan’s insolvency. Furthermore, 60 percent of UMWA 1974 beneficiaries are “orphan” retirees whose original employers no longer operate in the coal business. There are 10,000 active coal workers for 120,000 retirees.
“We must protect the hard-earned pensions and health benefits of our nation’s coal miners,” Portman said. “While we made some progress on this effort last year, I was very disappointed that the full Miner’s Protection Act wasn’t included in the year-end spending bill. I will keep fighting for our coal miners and working to enact this bipartisan legislation until it is signed into law.”
U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he has received assurances that the Trump administration would work with Congress on a permanent health care solution for miners.
“Our coal miners are some of the hardest working people in America, and they have dedicated their lives to powering this nation and keeping it the strongest in the world. We have a responsibility to protect their hard-earned pensions and health benefits,” he said.