The $1.3 billion for the next 10 years was included in the $1 trillion spending bill that would keep the federal government open until the end of September. Congress is expected to pass the spending bill this week.
“It’s a huge victory for the coal miners,” Brown, D-Ohio, said on CNN Monday. In a statement, Portman, R-Ohio, said: “These miners worked hard, played by the rules, and were promised these health care benefits, which — without this agreement — they would lose.
Last year, a Senate committee approved a bill that would have protected the miners’ pensions and health benefits. But today’s spending bill only includes money for the health benefits, although Brown said Senate Finance Committee Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has pledged to devise a solution this year for the pensions.
“We’ve got more work to do to ensure that these miners have access to the pensions they’ve earned,” Brown said in a statement.
The United Mine Workers’ pensions and health benefits were put in jeopardy because some coal companies dropped their coverage after filing for bankruptcy.
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