{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-warner-fetterman-mcgarvey-and-scott-introduce-legislation-to-strengthen-and-increase-accessibility-of-black-lung-benefits-program-for-miners", "Kaine, Warner, Fetterman, McGarvey, & Scott Introduce Legislation to Strengthen and Increase Accessibility of Black Lung Benefits Program for Miners", "2025-12-16", "2025", "2025-12", "Democrat", "Senate", "VA", "Tim Kaine", "K000384", "www.kaine.senate.gov", "kaine", "https://www.kaine.senate.gov/news", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Today, U.S. Senators Tim Kaine, Mark R. Warner (both D-VA), and John Fetterman (D-PA) and U.S. Representatives Morgan McGarvey (D-KY-03) and Bobby Scott (D-VA-03), Ranking Member of the Committee on Education and Labor, reintroduced the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act, legislation that would help miners who have suffered from black lung disease access the workers\u2019 compensation and benefits they are entitled to receive under the federal Black Lung Benefits Program. This legislation significantly reduces barriers, such as rising inflation and costs-of-living, complex claims processes, and lack of legal representation, that prevent miners and their survivors from accessing benefits.\n\n\u201cOur miners make tremendous sacrifices to keep our lights on, communities powered, and nation running,\u201d said Kaine. \u201cThe Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act will help the brave miners and retirees impacted by black lung disease finally get the medical coverage and compensation they've earned.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor generations, Virginia\u2019s coal miners have made tremendous sacrifices to power America, literally risking their lives to fuel our nation,\u201d said Warner. \u201cThe Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act will eliminate red tape and help miners and their families get easy access to the benefits, compensation, and legal representation they deserve.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe job of a coal miner is often a dangerous and thankless one. Pennsylvania\u2019s coal miners know the risk all too well,\u201d said Fetterman. \u201cIt\u2019s absolutely wrong when we have workers not receiving the benefits they were promised\u2014zero exceptions. I\u2019m proud to join my colleagues on the Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act so we do right by our coal miners and their families. They risk their lives every day for our great country and we should have their backs when they need us, not leave them behind.\u201d\n\n\u201cAfter paying for this country\u2019s last energy revolution with their own health and safety, miners shouldn\u2019t have to endure a costly, drawn-out legal process to prove they\u2019ve earned their benefits,\u201d said McGarvey. \u201cOur bill would peg these benefits to inflation and make them easier to access, rather than letting these miners who have sacrificed so much be left further and further behind. I\u2019m grateful for Senators Kaine and Fetterman and Ranking Member Scott\u2019s continued dedication to strengthen black lung benefits, get miners the care they need, and uphold the dignity of financial security that they deserve.\u201d\n\n\u201cDecades ago, Congress established the Black Lung Benefits Act to provide monthly compensation and medical coverage for coal miners who develop black lung disease and are totally disabled. Unfortunately, the Government Accountability Office found that miners often lack the necessary medical and legal resources to develop evidence to prove their claims,\u201d said Scott. \u201cThe Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act helps miners and their survivors access legal representation, ensures benefits are not eroded due to inflation, reduces the time for processing claims, and protects taxpayers from taking a hit when a self-insured coal company goes bankrupt and cannot pay black lung claims.\u201d\n\nMany miners have developed coal workers\u2019 pneumoconiosis\u2014commonly referred to as \u201cblack lung\u201d\u2014a debilitating and deadly disease caused by the long-term inhalation of coal dust in underground and surface coal mines. In response, Congress passed the Black Lung Benefits Act in 1976 to provide monthly compensation and medical coverage for coal miners who develop black lung disease and are disabled. The Black Lung Benefits Improvement Act makes necessary updates to ensure Congress is fulfilling its commitment to the nation\u2019s coal miners by:\n\nAutomatically adjusting coal miners' benefits for inflation,\n\nHelping miners and their survivors secure legal representation by increasing the number of attorneys willing to take on black lung claims,\n\nExpanding the assistance provided by black lung clinics,\n\nEnsuring miners get assistance from the Department of Labor (DOL) in rebutting medical evidence,\n\nImproving access to CT scans to clarify medical eligibility,\n\nRequiring the DOL to address potential conflicts of interest with physicians providing medical exams,\n\nAccelerating the DOL\u2019s access to employment and earnings verification for miners from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS),\n\nEstablishing stringent criteria for mine operators that seek to self-insure,\n\nIncreasing civil penalties for mine operators that fail to secure benefits, and\n\nExpanding the parties that the DOL can hold liable when an operator fails to secure benefits.\n\nWarner and Kaine have long worked to support miners, miner retirees, and their families. The senators successfully secured more than $600,000 for Norton Community Hospital and Black Lung Clinic in the committee-passed Fiscal Year 2025 government funding bill. The Inflation Reduction Act, which the senators helped pass, included a permanent extension of the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund\u2019s excise tax at a higher rate, providing certainty for miners, miner retirees, and their families who rely on the fund to access benefits. This followed Warner and Kaine\u2019s successful efforts to ensure that miners receive the pensions and health care they earned. Warner and Kaine also urged the Biden Administration to issue new silica standards to protect miners across America \u2013 a push that contributed to the release of those standards.\n\nThe legislation has been endorsed by Appalachia Voices, Appalachian Citizens\u2019 Law Center, the BlueGreen Alliance, the Sierra Club, and the United Mine Workers of America.\n\nA one-pager on the bill is available here. Full text of the bill is available here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T20:09:11Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.kaine.senate.gov/press-releases/kaine-warner-fetterman-mcgarvey-and-scott-introduce-legislation-to-strengthen-and-increase-accessibility-of-black-lung-benefits-program-for-miners"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.0264731720089912, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}