Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015
Latest action · Jun 10, 2015 Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedMay 18, 2015
- Passed HouseNot reached
- Passed SenateNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015
Amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to address potential shortages in the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan for payment of health care benefits to retired coal miners by expanding the eligible uses of interest transferable to the plan from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and supplemental payments from the General Fund of the Treasury.
Requires calculation of such amount by taking into account only those beneficiaries who are actually enrolled in the plan as of the enactment of this Act, as well as those retirees whose health benefits, payable directly by an employer in the bituminous coal industry under a coal wage agreement as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012, would be denied or reduced.
Requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the trustees of the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan a certain additional amount of funds, to pay pension benefits required under that plan, if the $490 million limitation on certain transfers to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund and distributions to states and Indian tribes exceeds the aggregate amount required to be transferred to them.
Amends the Internal Revenue Code to prescribe a special rule that employer contributions to an employees' trust or annuity benefit plan providing supplemental benefits solely to participants in a pension plan are neither deductible nor nondeductible as such from the employer's gross income. Subjects such contributions, on the other hand, to deduction as an allowable trade or business expense.
Treats a trust holding the assets of such a pension benefit plan as a tax-exempt organization.
Excludes from taxable wages any payments made to, or on behalf of, an employee or his or her beneficiary under such a plan.
Cosponsors 87
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 18, 2015 to Sep 28, 2016; 14 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| R-WV | Alexander X. Mooney | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-OH | Bill Johnson | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-KY | Ed Whitfield | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-WV | Evan H. Jenkins | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| D-CA | Julia Brownley | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| I-AZ | Kyrsten Sinema | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| D-OH | Marcia L. Fudge | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| D-OH | Marcy Kaptur | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| D-PA | Michael F. Doyle | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-IL | Mike Bost | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-AL | Robert B. Aderholt | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-IL | Rodney Davis | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-OH | Steve Stivers | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| D-MO | Wm. Lacy Clay | Original | May 18, 2015 |
| R-OH | David P. Joyce | May 19, 2015 |
Committees 2
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| House | Ways and Means Committee | Referred May 18, 2015 |
| Health Subcommittee | Referred Jun 1, 2015 | |
| House | Natural Resources Committee | Referred May 18, 2015 |
| Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee | Referred Jun 10, 2015 |
Actions 4
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 10, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources.
- Jun 1, 2015Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
- May 18, 2015Introduced in House
- May 18, 2015Referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
In the Congressional Record 6
Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.
| Where | In the Record | Members | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| House | Debate and remarks H7406, H7407 | Louise McIntosh Slaughter D-NY, Matt Cartwright D-PA, Nancy Pelosi D-CA, Rob Woodall R-GA | Dec 8, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H7273 | Evan H. Jenkins R-WV | Dec 7, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H7184 | Alexander X. Mooney R-WV | Dec 6, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H6370 | Evan H. Jenkins R-WV | Nov 30, 2016 |
| House | Debate and remarks H6242 | Evan H. Jenkins R-WV | Nov 16, 2016 |
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
Constitutional authority
The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the Congressional Record, vol. 161, no. 76, May 18, 2015, page H3310.
Related bills 1
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 1714 | Miners Protection Act of 2015 | Related bill | Jul 7, 2015 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- To amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan and the 1974 United Mine Workers of America Pension Plan.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- Coal Healthcare and Pensions Protection Act of 2015
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- May 18, 2015Introduced in House
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
