A group of legislators representing coal mining regions in the U.S. are warning fellow lawmakers that 1,200 retired coal miners, their widows and dependents could lose their health care benefits at the end of the calendar year - unless Congress takes action.
In a letter to fellow lawmakers, U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine (both D-VA), along with Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV), Doug Jones (D-AL), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Bob Casey (D-PA) urged the House and Senate leadership to include a permanent fix for miners’ health care and pensions in the short-term spending package that is currently being negotiated to keep the government open after September 30th, 2019.