Helping Ensure Long-Term Protection for Coal Miners Health Care Act of 2017

Summary: Helping Ensure Long-Term Protection for Coal Miners Health Care Act of 2017 or the HELP for Coal Miners Health Care Act of 2017 This bill amends the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (SMCRA) to transfer certain funds to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan to provide health benefits to retired coal miners and their families.  The bill expands the group whose retiree health benefits are taken into account in determining the amount that the Department of the Treasury must transfer from the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund and the General Fund of the Treasury to the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan. The Government Accountability Office must study the Multiemployer Health Benefit Plan and submit to Congress reports analyzing whether federal funds are being spent appropriately by the plan.  The bill amends the Internal Revenue Code to repeal requirements for current and former signatories to labor agreements with the United Mineworkers of America to pay unassigned beneficiaries premiums or backstop premiums if transfers under SMCRA are less than the amount required to be transferred.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Helping Ensure Long-Term Protection 
for Coal Miners Health Care Act of 2017'' or the ``HELP for Coal Miners 
Health Care Act of 2017''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds the following:
            (1) Over the 8 years preceding the date of the introduction 
        of this Act, the coal industry and the communities supported by 
        that industry have struggled, in large part due to 
        overregulation.
            (2) Excessive regulation has, in large part, made coal more 
        expensive to mine and use and has put it at an unfair 
        disadvantage in the marketplace.
            (3) Because of these struggles--
                    (A) the coal mining industry has lost over 30,000 
                jobs since President Obama's inauguration;
                    (B) over 600 coal mines have shuttered since 
                President Obama's inauguration;
                    (C) more than 25 coal mining companies have filed 
                for bankruptcy since President Obama's inauguration;
                    (D) Kentucky alone has lost over 10,000 coal mining 
                jobs since President Obama's inauguration; and
                    (E) the total number of operating coal mines has 
                hit its lowest point on record.
            (4) Because of the health risks often associated with 
        mining, robust health benefits are vital to coal miner 
        retirees; however, coal company bankruptcies, job cuts, and 
        closures have exhausted the ability of many coal companies to 
        continue providing health benefits to retirees and their 
        dependents.
            (5) Congress has stepped in twice before, in 1992 and in 
        2006, to assist retired miners and to secure their health 
        benefits. When thousands more were at risk of losing their 
        benefits at the end of 2016, Congress intervened again to 
        provide a 4-month extension in health benefits for orphaned 
        retired miners and their dependents.
            (6) While this extension helped prevent the loss of health 
        benefits for thousands of miners, it did not provide a long-
        term solution.
            (7) It is necessary to provide a permanent extension of 
        health care benefits for the orphaned retirees who are at risk 
        of losing their retirement health benefits at the end of April 
        2017.

SEC. 3. INCLUSION OF CERTAIN RETIREES IN THE MULTIEMPLOYER HEALTH 
              BENEFIT PLAN.

    (a) In General.--Section 402(h)(2)(C) of the Surface Mining Control 
and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)(C)), as amended by 
the Further Continuing and Security Assistance Appropriations Act, 
2017, is amended--
            (1) by striking clauses (ii), (iii), and (iv); and
            (2) by inserting after clause (i) the following:
                            ``(ii) Calculation of excess.--The excess 
                        determined under clause (i) shall be calculated 
                        by taking into account only--
                                    ``(I) those beneficiaries actually 
                                enrolled in the Plan as of the date of 
                                the enactment of the HELP for Coal 
                                Miners Health Care Act of 2017 who are 
                                eligible to receive health benefits 
                                under the Plan on the first day of the 
                                calendar year for which the transfer is 
                                made, other than those beneficiaries 
                                enrolled in the Plan under the terms of 
                                a participation agreement with the 
                                current or former employer of such 
                                beneficiaries; and
                                    ``(II) those beneficiaries whose 
                                health benefits, defined as those 
                                benefits payable, following death or 
                                retirement or upon a finding of 
                                disability, directly by an employer in 
                                the bituminous coal industry under a 
                                coal wage agreement (as defined in 
                                section 9701(b)(1) of the Internal 
                                Revenue Code of 1986), would be denied 
                                or reduced as a result of a bankruptcy 
                                proceeding commenced in 2012 or 2015.
                        For purposes of subclause (I), a beneficiary 
                        enrolled in the Plan as of the date of the 
                        enactment of the HELP for Coal Miners Health 
                        Care Act of 2017 shall be deemed to have been 
                        eligible to receive health benefits under the 
                        Plan on January 1, 2017.
                            ``(iii) Eligibility of certain retirees.--
                        Individuals referred to in clause (ii)(II) 
                        shall be treated as eligible to receive health 
                        benefits under the Plan.
                            ``(iv) Requirements for transfer.--The 
                        amount of the transfer otherwise determined 
                        under this subparagraph for a fiscal year shall 
                        be reduced by any amount transferred for the 
                        fiscal year to the Plan, to pay benefits 
                        required under the Plan, from a voluntary 
                        employees' beneficiary association established 
                        as a result of a bankruptcy proceeding 
                        described in clause (ii).''.
    (b) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to fiscal years beginning after September 30, 2016.
    (c) GAO Audit.--Not later than 3 years after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, and every 3 years thereafter, the Comptroller 
General of the United States shall conduct a study of the Multiemployer 
Health Benefit Plan described in section 402(h)(2)(C)(i) of the Surface 
Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)(C)(i)) 
and shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report 
analyzing whether Federal funds are being spent appropriately by such 
Plan.

SEC. 4. CLARIFICATION OF FINANCING OBLIGATIONS.

    (a) In General.--Subsection (a) of section 9704 of the Internal 
Revenue Code of 1986 is amended--
            (1) by striking paragraph (3),
            (2) by striking ``three premiums'' and inserting ``two 
        premiums'', and
            (3) by striking ``, plus'' at the end of paragraph (2) and 
        inserting a period.
    (b) Conforming Amendments.--
            (1) Section 9704 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking subsection (d), and
                    (B) by redesignating subsections (e) through (j) as 
                subsections (d) through (i), respectively.
            (2) Subsection (d) of section 9704 of such Code, as so 
        redesignated, is amended--
                    (A) by striking ``3 separate accounts for each of 
                the premiums described in subsections (b), (c), and 
                (d)'' in paragraph (1) and inserting ``2 separate 
                accounts for each of the premiums described in 
                subsections (b) and (c)'', and
                    (B) by striking ``or the unassigned beneficiaries 
                premium account'' in paragraph (3)(B).
            (3) Subclause (I) of section 9703(b)(2)(C)(ii) of such Code 
        is amended by striking ``9704(e)(3)(B)(i)'' and inserting 
        ``9704(d)(3)(B)(i)''.
            (4) Paragraph (3) of section 9705(a) of such Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``the unassigned beneficiary 
                premium under section 9704(a)(3) and'' in subparagraph 
                (B), and
                    (B) by striking ``9704(i)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                ``9704(h)(1)(B)''.
            (5) Paragraph (2) of section 9711(c) of such Code is 
        amended--
                    (A) by striking ``9704(j)(2)'' in subparagraph 
                (A)(i) and inserting ``9704(i)(2)'',
                    (B) by striking ``9704(j)(2)(B)'' in subparagraph 
                (B) and inserting ``9704(i)(2)(B)'', and
                    (C) by striking ``9704(j)'' and inserting 
                ``9704(i)''.
            (6) Paragraph (4) of section 9712(d) of such Code is 
        amended by striking ``9704(j)'' and inserting ``9704(i)''.
    (c) Elimination of Additional Backstop Premium.--
            (1) In general.--Paragraph (1) of section 9712(d) of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by striking 
        subparagraph (C).
            (2) Conforming amendment.--Paragraph (2) of section 9712(d) 
        of such Code is amended--
                    (A) by striking subparagraph (B),
                    (B) by striking ``, and'' at the end of 
                subparagraph (A) and inserting a period, and
                    (C) by striking ``shall provide for--'' and all 
                that follows through ``annual adjustments'' and 
                inserting ``shall provide for annual adjustments''.
    (d) Effective Date.--The amendments made by this section shall 
apply to plan years beginning after September 30, 2016.

SEC. 5. SENSE OF THE SENATE.

    It is the sense of the Senate that Congress should work with the 
administration to--
            (1) repeal onerous regulations that have contributed to the 
        downfall of the coal industry; and
            (2) support economic growth in Appalachia and other coal 
        communities by promoting growth-oriented economic development 
        efforts.