The Miners Protection Act is a bill to establish pension and health care benefits to mine workers and has been introduced to Congress 4 times since 2015 but has still not been voted on by the full Senate.
[8] Moreover, miners who worked for coal companies that have declared bankruptcy, or maintain frozen accounts resulting from lawsuits, would also be eligible to receive funds.
[10] 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.
[22] The bill was proposed by Congressman David McKinley, a House of Representatives member from West Virginia.
[25] 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.
[30] 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] 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.
[39] Recently, Shelley Capito, Junior Senator of West Virginia, introduced the "Miners Pension Protection Act" on March 26, 2019.
[40] The bill would also amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act to provide funds to coal miners' pensions.