S. 2788: Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019

116th Congress · introduced 2019-11-06 · Labor and Employment · Latest: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2019-11-06 · official record
Who proposed it: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
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.
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

Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019

Plain summary

Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019 This bill transfers certain funds to provide pension and health benefits for retired coal miners who have been affected by issues such as coal company bankruptcies. The Department of the Treasury must transfer additional funds to the 1974 United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) Pension Plan to pay pension benefits required under that plan if the annual limit on transfers under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 exceeds the amount required to be transferred for existing obligations of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund. The bill also increases the annual limit on transfers from $490 million to $750 million. The bill also adds miners affected by 2018 and 2019 coal company bankruptcies to the group whose retiree health benefits are taken into account in determining the amount that Treasury must transfer under current law to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan. Additionally, the bill allows in-service distributions under a pension plan or governmental section 457(b) plan at age 59-1/2. The distributions are currently permitted at age 62 for pension plans and at age 70-1/2 for governmental section 457(b) plans.

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

Bipartisan American Miners Act of 2019

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)

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The strongest published arguments

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

Officials and money

Sponsor: Sen. Manchin, Joe, III [D-WV] · 14 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Tim Kaine (D-VA), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), Jack Reed (D-RI)

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 (2)

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).
Obligation: A binding promise by a government agency to pay money, for example by signing a contract or awarding a grant. Spending data such as USAspending.gov counts money when it is obligated, which can be before it is actually paid out.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in Senate)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-116s2788.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/116/s>

Record fed-us-cong116-s2788 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong116 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong116