Surprise, Surprise: McConnell Nowhere In Sight As Black Lung Funding Nears Expiration
EDIT
As Majority Leader, Sen. McConnell could find a way to extend the tax. During an October event in eastern Kentucky he appeared to indicate he would do that. “That’ll be taken care of before we get into an expiration situation,” McConnell said in response to a ReSource reporter’s question about the status of the trust fund and the coal tax. “It just won’t be allowed to be unfunded,” McConnell reiterated.
But with less than a week remaining in the Congressional session, black lung advocates are still waiting for McConnell to follow through on that, and McConnell’s staff appears to be softening the senator’s earlier statement. McConnell’s office did not answer detailed questions about the fate of the tax or commit to extending it at its current rate. In a written statement to the ReSource, McConnell said, “It is a top priority of mine to maintain and protect benefits for those suffering from black lung disease.”
As the ReSource reported in June, a report from the Government Accountability Office estimates that a reduced coal tax would likely add billions to the already sizable debt for the trust fund. In one scenario, the GAO estimates a $15 billion debt for the fund by 2050.
That would not immediately put miners’ benefits in jeopardy. In the past the federal government has forgiven the fund’s debt. But advocates say a large debt raises the possibility of reduced benefits down the road or greater barriers for future applicants to win benefits. And they raise questions about the fairness of having taxpayers, rather than the industry, paying off the fund’s debt.
EDIT
http://ohiovalleyresource.org/2018/12/14/black-lung-red-ink-residents-press-mcconnell-as-deadline-looms-for-black-lung-fund/