American Miners Pension Act of 2017
Latest action · Oct 3, 2017 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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.
- IntroducedOct 3, 2017
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
American Miners Pension Act of 2017
This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to transfer certain funds and provide loans to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan in order to provide pension benefits for retired coal miners.
The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer additional funds from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and the General Fund of the Treasury to the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan to pay pension benefits required under that plan if the amounts available for transfer under SMCRA's $490 million annual limit exceed the amounts required to be transferred for other purposes (including to the UMWA Health Plans). The bill prohibits the plan from making certain changes to benefits during any year in which a transfer is received.
Treasury must make annual loans to the plan equal to the amount certified by the trustees of the plan as necessary to prevent insolvency. The loans may not exceed $600 million per year. The trustees must annually certify that the plan is projected to be solvent and is able to repay the loans under terms specified in the bill.
The bill also establishes additional reporting requirements for the plan.
Cosponsors 14
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Oct 3, 2017 to Mar 6, 2018; 9 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MO | Claire McCaskill | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-ND | Heidi Heitkamp | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-IN | Joe Donnelly | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-VA | Mark R. Warner | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-PA | Robert P. Casey Jr. | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| R-WV | Shelley Moore Capito | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Oct 3, 2017 |
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Oct 16, 2017 | |
| R-AK | Dan Sullivan | Nov 29, 2017 | |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Nov 30, 2017 | |
| R-AK | Lisa Murkowski | Jan 4, 2018 | |
| D-AL | Doug Jones | Mar 6, 2018 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Finance Committee | Referred Oct 3, 2017 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Oct 3, 2017Introduced in Senate
- Oct 3, 2017Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
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.
Printed hearings 1
Hearings whose printed record names this bill, newest first: hearings on it, and wider hearings where it came up.
| Number | Hearing | Committee | Held |
|---|---|---|---|
| S. Hrg. 115-781 | HOW THE MULTIEMPLOYER PENSION SYSTEM AFFECTS STAKEHOLDERS87 pages | Joint Select Committee on Solvency of Multiemployer Pension Plans | Jul 25, 2018 |
Related bills 6
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| S 175 | Miners Protection Act of 2017 | Related bill | Jan 17, 2017 |
| HR 179 | Miners Protection Act of 2017 | Related bill | Feb 10, 2017 |
| S 1105 | Miners Pension Protection Act | Related bill | May 11, 2017 |
| HR 2713 | Miners Pension Protection Act | Related bill | Jun 14, 2017 |
| HR 3913 | American Miners Pension Act of 2017 | Related bill | Oct 6, 2017 |
| HR 4426 | Sustainable Energy Development Reform Act | Related bill | May 22, 2018 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to amend the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 to transfer certain funds to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America Pension Plan, and for other purposes.
- Short Titles as Introduced
- American Miners Pension Act of 2017
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Oct 3, 2017Introduced in Senate
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.
