Permanent health benefits fix for retired coal miners part of Congressional spending plan

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Just a few pages of the more than 1,660-page bipartisan $1.1 trillion spending package members of the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives will vote on this week on Capitol Hill end years of rallies and worries for 22,000 retired coal miners.

Those pages permanently secure health benefits for retirees and their families after years of uncertainty.

“I feel like I’ve had a pickup truck parked on my chest for five years and somebody just pulled it off,” said Cecil Roberts, president of the United Mine Workers of America, on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

UMWA President Cecil Roberts and 99 fellow union members block the street in front of the U.S. Capitol to protest delays on a vote on pension and healthcare guarantees on Sept. 8, 2016.

For Roberts, the fight to keep retiree health benefits dates back to July 2012 amidst coal company bankruptcy filings.

“You see these people every single day. You know these people. They’re your friends, your neighbors, your relatives and you worry yourself sick over it and then, finally, there’s an answer here,” Roberts said. “Yeah, I’m feeling pretty good today.”

As of Sunday night, the funding source for the health benefits was to come from U.S. customs user fees totaling $1.3 billion over ten years or just more than $100 million annually.

With votes pending, “We’re 99.9 percent of the way there,” said U.S. Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) who was also a guest on “Talkline.” “This is one that it took all of us.”

Throughout most of the negotiations, funding for continued benefits was proposed to come from the Abandoned Mine Lands fund via transfers of funds beyond what was needed to meet existing AML obligations to the UMWA 1974 Pension Plan.

Manchin said significant resistance to that proposal came from Wyoming.

“They’ve been holding onto that money and their senators were very tough. They were afraid to lose any of that money at all and it was just a dog fight for the last two years, so finally we identified the customs user fees,” explained Manchin of the choice of funding source.

Customs user fees are those the U.S. charges to process passengers and merchandise entering the country.

“This was about establishing it as a priority, really a national priority, of taking the plights of our coal miners, retirees and widows and getting the level of support in the House, the Senate along with the White House to come to an agreement, to identify a funding source to fill the void,” said 3rd District Congressman Evan Jenkins (R-W.Va.).

The original agreement between the miners and the federal government for the health benefits dates back to the 1940s.

“The federal government has had a stake throughout these, literally, generations of our coal miners,” Jenkins said on Monday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”

“There’s nobody added on,” Manchin said. “These are all orphans. These are people that retired, the companies went bankrupt, dumped on them, left them high and dry,” Manchin explained.

UMWA President Cecil Roberts spoke for retirees last week on Capitol Hill.

Roberts said it was the retired miners who made the difference over the years — in large marches across the U.S. and via repeat trips to the U.S. Capitol in their familiar UMWA camouflage shirts.

“Almost everybody agrees that that was a huge factor in Congress paying attention to this and finally acting on it,” Roberts said. “I’m so grateful to them.”

U.S. Senator Shelley Moore Capito also praised the agreement in a statement released by her office Monday.

“Protecting health care benefits for our nation’s coal miners has been one of my top priorities, and I am pleased that Congress has finally agreed on a permanent fix to preserve health care for these hardworking men and women. I will continue to lead efforts in Congress that help put our miners back to work and rebuild local economies that rely on energy production,” Capito said.

While First District Congressman David McKinley called the fix “great news.”

“For six years, we’ve been leading this fight and I am pleased to see we are about to cross the finish line. Coal mining families deserve peace of mind and know that their healthcare benefits will no longer be threatened and I’d like to thank the leadership in both the Senate and the House for addressing this permanently,” said McKinley.

McKinley also received a letter from House Speaker Paul Ryan for his work on the issue.

Pension benefits for retired miners were not addressed in this spending plan. Manchin said there is more time to work on those pension benefits which, in his view, are “okay” until 2020 or 2022.

Negotiators reached a deal on the spending plan, officially called the Omnibus Appropriations Act, late Sunday and details of it were released on Monday morning.

The U.S. House could vote on the proposal as early as Wednesday.

In it are billions of dollars in emergency and disaster relief funding for several states including West Virginia where flood recovery after the June 2016 storms in the central and southeastern Mountain State counties continues.

It also includes $15 billion in new defense spending and $1.5 billion in additional border security spending for infrastructure repairs and technology improvements.

There is no money, though, for President Donald Trump’s proposed wall along the Mexico border in the spending plan and a proposal to block “sanctuary cities” that do not follow federal immigration directives has also been removed, along with a funding cut to Planned Parenthood.

The spending plan does come with funding for the drug epidemic fight, more money for fossil energy research and development and investments in scientific research. All will benefit West Virginia, according to members of West Virginia’s Congressional delegation.

Last week, members of Congress approved a one-week extension to avoid a government shutdown and allow for additional budget talks.

If approved by both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate before Friday night, the overall spending plan will fund the U.S. government through the end of the fiscal year in September.

The new federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.





More News

News
As Yeager Airport's Wildlife Patrol Dog turns 7, a new dog comes in to learn from him
The new Border Collie is getting acclimated and receiving training for his soon-to-be role.
March 28, 2024 - 6:30 pm
News
Dunlow Volunteer Fire Department closes
The Dunlow VFD did not have a valid workers compensation insurance policy.
March 28, 2024 - 6:20 pm
News
PEIA examines financial effects of new law meant to ensure local pharmacies get fair reimbursements
Gov. Jim Justice signed Senate Bill 453 into law this week.
March 28, 2024 - 4:11 pm
News
Barbour County woman sentenced after death case sent back to circuit court by Supreme Court
Carli Reed sentenced on voluntary manslaughter conviction.
March 28, 2024 - 4:11 pm