CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Senator Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., appeared Thursday evening with coal miners and other supporters of a long-term solution for union miners’ healthcare benefits as a congressional showdown loomed.
Although the issue has been discussed for months, by the end of this week the whole situation had a high noon feel to it.
Without some solution, thousands of miners’ health care plans run out of funding at the end of December.
Funding for the healthcare plans was represented in a continuing resolution that funds the federal government through April. Without a continuing resolution, the government shuts down at midnight Friday. The Republican-led House voted today to approve the spending bill, 326-96.
Being included in the continuing resolution would give the miners’ healthcare benefits four months of reprieve. But Manchin and others were pressing for long-term funding, even as Congress was preparing to depart until January.
“It’s not like we had a heavy work year this year,” Manchin said. “So everybody had to leave today. I can’t understand it. It’s not like we’ve been here slaving away.”
Manchin has been vowing to block other bills if Congress doesn’t find a solid solution to the miners’ healthcare issue.
“I’ve never used these procedures before,” Manchin said. “And now I’ve got all these bills held up.”
At a White House news conference this afternoon, CQ Roll Call White House Correspondent John Bennett asked for reaction to the miners healthcare battle.
“The truth is the– it’s quite cynical that Republicans in the Congress would adopt a position of only extending these benefits for the five month life of the CR,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest responded. “These are lives and livelihoods that hang in the balance and there should be bipartisan common ground to address the needs of these 20,000 coal miners who are slated to lose their health insurance at the end of the month.”
Earnest continued, “So Democrats are ready to solve this problem and it’s not lost on me, the irony, that Republicans are bragging about the kind of support they have from workers in coal country, particularly retirees in coal country and now are prepared to just extend their health care for five months.”
Sen. Joe Manchin rallies with miners outside the Capitol, as govt shutdown looms. pic.twitter.com/8h8sHLddYO
— Ben Weyl (@benweyl) December 8, 2016
Manchin and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito for months have urged passage of the Miners Protection Act.
Their preferred plan would authorize the transfer of funds from a U.S. Office of Surface Mining program that cleans up abandoned mine lands to the United Mine Workers’ pension fund.
As bankruptcies have struck coal companies, just 10,000 active workers remain to pay into the fund from which 120,000 miners draw pension checks. If the plan goes broke, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., a federal agency that backs up private sector pension programs, would assume the billions of dollars of liabilities and monthly pension checks could be cut.
The Senate would need to vote on the continuing resolution by the end of the day Friday to avoid a government shutdown but would need unanimous consent to take up the bill in time to meet that deadline. That seems doubtful with Manchin and others threatening to withhold support.
The Senate would still be able to vote Sunday to pass the continuing resolution, but that would force a government shutdown of about a day — Saturday.
Senate Republican Whip John Cornyn, R-Texas, told The Hill that Manchin got a major concession when Republican leaders added the four-month extension of miners’ healthcare benefits and pledged they would not reopen the talks.
“If I were Senator Manchin, I would say I’m glad we got something for my miners in the bill and I’m going to keep working on getting more,” he said. “I don’t think he helps his cause by keeping everybody here.”
Manchin is set to meet Friday morning in Trump Tower to talk with President-elect Donald Trump about possible cabinet positions, including Energy Secretary and Secretary of State.
House Speaker Paul Ryan’s office said members of that house were planning to go ahead and leave Washington today and would take up no other legislation until January.
Congressman David McKinley, R-W.Va., spoke on the House floor in favor of a long-term solution to the miners’ healthcare issue.
“Those men and women in the coal fields did not cause this problem. This extension of their healthcare will give those families little relief. It’s only for 4 months; not any longer. After this bill passes, in just a few short weeks, they will be back in the same position.”