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S. 1714: Miners Protection Act of 2015

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S. 1714: Miners Protection Act of 2015

114th Congress · introduced 2015-07-07 · Labor and Employment · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

  1. Where it came from: introduced 2015-07-07 · official record
  2. Who proposed it: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] · what a sponsor is
  3. What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
  4. Where it stands now: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
  5. If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Miners Protection Act of 2015

Plain summary

Miners Protection Act of 2015 This bill 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 such plan from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and supplemental payments from the General Fund of the Treasury. The calculation of such interest and payments shall be made 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 care benefits, payable directly by an employer in the bituminous coal industry under a coal wage agreement, would be denied or reduced as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding commenced in 2012. The bill requires the Department of the Treasury to transfer to the trustees of the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan additional funds to pay pension benefits required under that plan, if the $490 million cap on certain transfers to the UMWA Combined Benefit Fund and distributions to states and Indian tribes exceed the aggregate amount required to be transferred to them. The bill also expands the annual reporting requirements of the trustees of the 1974 UMWA Pension Plan on plan solvency and value of plan assets.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

PSI Sci description of the legislative step (not an opinion).

What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Miners Protection Act of 2015

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

Arguments for (supporters)

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Arguments against (opponents)

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Alternatives

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] · 26 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Tom Cotton (R-AR), James E. Risch (R-ID), Mike Rounds (R-SD), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Patty Murray (D-WA), Bernard Sanders (I-VT), Jerry Moran (R-KS), Dan Sullivan (R-AK), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Cory A. Booker (D-NJ), Martin Heinrich (D-NM), Christopher A. Coons (D-DE)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (1)
Bill
A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Record fed-us-cong114-s1714 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong114 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong114