Miners Protection Act

The Miners Protection Act was originally introduced in the U.S. Senate on July 7, 2015 by the Senator of West Virginia, Joe Manchin III.[11] The Miners Protection Act was discussed in the 114th Congress between the House of Representatives and the Senate which passed on the bill to the Committee of Finance to further evaluate the proper use of government funds.[12] The bill had bipartisan support and was cosponsored by 26 senators.[12] Several Democratic senators (Donnelly, J-IN; Kaine, T- VA; Warner, M-VA; Scott, R-VA) and one Republican senator (Griffith, M- VA) made official statements to the public actively supporting the bill.[13] The bill however, was never brought to the floor for a vote in the Senate.[14]

The Miners Protection Act was introduced again on November 16, 2016.[15] The bill was then passed to the United States Committee of Finance for review, and it was recommended to pass.[16] The bill was sponsored by Senator Orrin Hatch of Utah.[17] The Miners Protection Act was not approved by all parts of Congress, and was thereby dismissed.[18] The bill had no cosponsors from other senators.[19] Coal miners have stated that many mine workers are depending on the bill to be passed.[20][21] Coal miners' response to the second dismissal of the bill in the end of 2016 was to blame Mitch McConnell, the Senate majority leader, for the failure of the bill.[22]

The Miners Protection Act was reintroduced for the third time in the 115th Congress on January 3, 2017.[23] The bill was proposed by Congressman David McKinley, a House of Representatives member from West Virginia.[24] The bill had 78 cosponsors with bipartisan support in the House of Representatives.[25] The majority of the bill's supporters were Democrats.[26] Democratic leader in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, supported the "Miners Protection Act" and advocated for the bill to her constituents on December 8, 2016.[27] The bill did not pass in the House of Representatives shortly after it was introduced.[28] The Miners Protection Act was then introduced in the Senate by Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia on January 17, 2017.[29] The bill had bipartisan support in the Senate with 27 cosponsors.[30] The Miners Protection Act did not pass again in the senate, however, other laws came from this bill.[31]

Mitch McConnell developed a proposal that would provide healthcare to miners indefinitely and became an official law in 2017 with the approval of President Donald Trump.[32] This law was separate from the Miner Protection Act and only addressed certain parts of the issue miners are struggling with.The UMWA claims that Congress passed the part of the Miners Protection Act that only secures the health benefits of miners, but not their pensions.[33] Miners were outraged, and said that the continuous dismissal of the Miners Protection Act was unlawful and unjust.[34] However, Mitch McConnell claimed the passage of the bill as a victory for having a sustaining solution for the coal miner financial support of healthcare supplied by the U.S. government.[35][36] Miners have mixed reactions to Mitch McConnell's law as they are satisfied with receiving coverage for their healthcare but, are still uneasy about the law avoiding funding towards miners' pensions.[37] Miners are expecting the government to solve the pension crisis of the UMWA's Health and Retirement Funds running out of money for retired coal miner's pensions.[38][39][40]

The Miners Protection Act has not been resubmitted to Congress since 2017. However, other bills were created to address issues presented by the Miners Protection Act.[41] Recently, Shelley Capito, Junior Senator of West Virginia, introduced the "Miners Pension Protection Act" on March 26, 2019.[42] The bill would also amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to provide funds to coal miners' pensions.[43]