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 McConnell, the Republican leader who represents Kentucky - one of
the states that has seen a rebound in the progressive respiratory
illness - told them their benefits would be safe but gave no
assurances about the excise tax and left without answering questions
or offering details, several of the miners who attended the meeting
said.
"We rode up here for 10 hours by bus to get some answers from him
because he represents our state," said George Massey, a miner from
Harlan County, Kentucky who spent two decades in the mines and is on
disability. "For him to come in for just two minutes was a low-down
shame."
David Mullins, who worked in coal mines for 34 years and is
currently battling an advanced stage of black lung disease, said he
was also frustrated. "It's time to act," he said, while wearing a
“Black Lung Kills” T-shirt and using an oxygen tank.
Coal companies had been required to pay a $1.10 per ton tax on
underground coal to finance the federal Black Lung Disability Trust
Fund, which supports disabled miners whose employers go bankrupt and
can no longer pay out medical benefits. But the amount reverted to
the 1977 level of 55 cents this year after Congress declined to take
action to maintain the rate.
The coal industry had lobbied hard to allow the tax to drop as
scheduled, despite a government report saying the fund was in dire
financial straits, arguing the companies were already facing
economic pain and that benefits for afflicted miners would not be
affected.
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McConnell spokeswoman Stephanie Penn said the senator "was glad to
welcome his constituents to the Capitol" but did not comment on
miners' complaints. She said he is "working closely with interested
parties regarding future funding for the program and will continue
to ensure these important benefits are maintained."
Massey and Mullins were among 120 miners and their families who
traveled to Washington to call on Congress to restore the higher
tax. The group also met with Democratic senators Bob Casey of
Pennsylvania, Joe Manchin of West Virginia, Tim Kaine of Virginia,
Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Democratic Virginia Congressman Bobby
Scott - all of whom have supported different bills that would
protect and strengthen their black lung benefits.
The Government Accountability Office has said without an extension
of previous tax levels the fund’s debt will rise from $5 billion to
$15 billion by 2050 – a burden that would likely have to be met by
U.S. taxpayers instead of coal companies. Coal company bankruptcies
and a resurgence of the disease are accelerating the risk of
insolvency for the fund, according to the accountability office.
(Editing by Richard Valdmanis, Tom Brown and Chris Reese)
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