Trump MIA
Granted, President Donald Trump may have other things on his mind these days, but time is of the essence for nearly 89,000 retired coal miners and their dependents, including many in Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties, who will lose their health care and pension benefits on May 1 unless Congress acts before then to restore them.
Trump would seem like a good ally for the retirees. After all, he vowed during his presidential campaign to bring back the coal industry. He was rewarded with overwhelming support at the polls by miners and others in Appalachia, including here.
However, Trump has been uncharacteristically silent on the issue, which dates back to 1946 when coal miners ended a lengthy strike in exchange for pension and health care benefits. At the behest of the government, the coal companies set up a pension and health care fund, which has been closely regulated over the years.
But the fund has been decimated in recent years by the sharp decline in the coal industry. It’s estimated that 60 percent of retired miners worked for companies no longer in existence.
The fund was set to go bankrupt at the end of 2016. Legislation, called the Miners Protection Act, was introduced last year which would direct money from an abandoned mine reclamation fund to replenish the pension fund at no expense to taxpayers.
Backed by Senate Democrats Bob Casey of Pennsylvania and Joe Manchin of West Virginia, among others, the bill was passed by the Senate Finance Committee last September and appeared headed for a full vote in the Senate where it was expected to pass. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, blocked the bill from coming up for a vote.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin, then pushed a measure to extend the health benefits for four months. It was passed, but the measure expires at the end of April.
Casey, Manchin and a dozen other Democratic members of the Senate Finance Committee recently sent a letter to U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, asking that the Miner Protection Act be attached to a waiver needed for the nomination of Robert Lighthizer to be the U.S. Trade Representative under President Trump. The waiver is needed because Lighthizer has represented foreign governments in trade disputes.
While Casey, Manchin and the other Democratic senators who signed the letter deserve kudos for trying to get this issue resolved, the bottom line is the Republicans control not only the White House but the House and Senate, so the measure will need their support if it’s going to get passed. Democrats alone can’t do this.
McConnell did introduce his own version of the Miners Protection Act, which did nothing about pensions but preserved the health care benefits for miners. However, it’s gone nowhere, and McConnell seems content to let it sit untouched in the Senate.
This brings us back to where we started with President Trump. There are some Republicans in Congress who are opposed to the Miner Protection Act on the grounds that the government shouldn’t be involved in securing private pensions even if no taxpayer funds are involved.
It’s possible Trump shares those feelings, which would leave the retired miners and their dependents out in the cold despite their tremendous support for him last November.
It’s also possible that Trump doesn’t share that view. But if that’s true, then Trump needs to let his fellow Republicans in Congress know that he supports the Miner Protection Act. And he needs to do it soon. In the end, that’s only way it’s going to pass.