WASHINGTON _ Congress is on track to pass legislation this year that will stabilize the pensions and health benefits of retired coal miners and their widows.
It's a huge win for longtime advocates of the cause, on and off Capitol Hill, who have spent years fighting for a legislative response to a mounting pension crisis in beleaguered mining communities.
It's also a significant political victory for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who had put his influence behind the effort.
A congressional aide confirmed with McClatchy on Monday morning that the Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 was included in a closely-negotiated, must-pass government spending package finalized over the past few days by members of both parties, in both chambers, on Capitol Hill.
The provision will extend health retirement benefits to miners impacted by coal company bankruptcies that occurred in 2018 and 2019. It will shore up pensions by increasing the cap on transfers from the U.S. Department of Treasury to the federal Abandoned Mine Lands Fund from $490 million annually to $750 million.
It also will take a step toward addressing a warning from the United Mine Workers of America that, without legislative action, the pension fund will be insolvent by 2022.
The spending bill, which includes the pension fix, is expected to be cleared by Congress and signed into law by Friday.
McConnell's endorsement of this effort was a confidence-booster for advocates working on the issue: While McConnell has taken credit for helping address miners' health care woes in the past, this marked the first time he'd actually put his name on a bipartisan piece of legislation to address the specific crisis with the pension program.
As negotiations were drawing to a close on the larger spending bill, McConnell's spokeswoman, Stephanie Penn, made it clear the majority leader was involved in discussions.
"As the majority leader, Senator McConnell and his staff continue to work with his fellow coal state senators on the issue," she said last week.
McConnell said he signed onto the bill_ co-sponsored by Republican Shelley Moore Capito and Democrat Joe Manchin, senators from another large coal-producing state of West Virginia _ because he saw a new sense of urgency with the announcement that Murray Energy, one of the nation's largest coal producers, would declare bankruptcy.
"The startling number of orphaned miners in the drastically underfunded pension plan presents an urgent crisis for entire communities of miners, retirees and their families," McConnell said in a statement at the time. "I personally raised with President Trump the importance of protecting these coal miners' pensions and health retirement benefits."
But there could also be political advantages to McConnell getting the miners' pension fix included in a year-end spending package: He is up for reelection in 2020 in a state that is, like West Virginia, home to substantial coal production.
There's even a chance now McConnell could win a coveted endorsement from the United Mine Workers of America, which has opted not to back McConnell in his previous two elections.
"Any time any legislator does something to help a group of people, like retired miners in this case, that's gonna help them in their popularity," said Phil Smith, communications and governmental affairs director for the UMWA. "If Sen. McConnell is successful in getting this legislation through, I think that's gonna make them very pleased. Why wouldn't it?"
However, the exclusion of a provision for black lung victims could complicate McConnell's victory lap.
"I'm asking for this for Mr. McConnell: I'm asking him to please remember that East Kentucky is a mining area, and we do have a lot of miners and election is coming up. I want him to understand that," said Patty Amburgey, secretary of the local black lung association in Letcher County and whose husband died from black lung disease.
Black lung is an incurable and deadly disease caused by inhaling dust that is churned up during coal mining. Several studies, including one published last year by the American Public Health Association, have shown that the prevalence of black lung among coal miners in Central Appalachia is on the rise.
And, like the miners' pension fund, the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is in its own state of disarray. The tax that coal companies pay to support the fund was cut in half earlier this year, sparking concern that the fund could eventually become insolvent. According to a report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the decrease in the black lung tax could cause the fund's expenses to exceed revenue by as early as 2020.
Several black lung associations in Eastern Kentucky visited Washington earlier this year to campaign for the reinstatement of the black lung tax. McConnell met with the group of former miners and their widows, but has not committed to reinstating the tax to its former level.
McConnell might be able to withstand the scrutiny, though. While the UMWA has advocated for reinstating the black lung tax, Smith said congressional Republicans would never have signed on to fix miners' pensions if the bill would have also reinstated the black lung tax, and that passing legislation to address the problems facing pension recipients remains the most pressing priority.
