The names of coal miners whose lives were cut short by the mine are carved into a memorial in Cumberland, Kentucky.

Kentucky coal miners and their families have a fraught relationship with senior Senator Mitch McConnell, who has outsized power over their lives and deaths. As Senate Majority Leader, he's the gatekeeper to the federal assistance they rely upon as their industry withers. He's got all the power and he's using it to jerk them around. He's filed legislation to shore up pension funds and health care benefits, but is continuing a tax cut for coal companies in the excise tax that funds the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund.

Securing pension funding is critical after Murray Energy filed for bankruptcy protections last week, imperiling the United Mine Workers pension fund. McConnell's legislation would transfer money for the Abandoned Mine Land fund under the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act in to the pension fund. That's fine, as far as it goes. But McConnell refused to restore the full excise tax on per-ton tax coal companies pay to fund the blank lung program. That tax was halved at the end of last year when Congress failed to renew it at then-current levels.

These fees pay millions for the health care for miners stricken with the disease and provide a stipend to their widows and families. McConnell decided to leave them dangling. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has a separate bill that would have both shored up pensions and restored the full excise tax to fund the black lung program, but McConnell hasn't taken that up. Settling for half a loaf, Manchin is co-sponsoring this legislation from McConnell and says he will pick up the black lung excise tax separately "at a later date." When McConnell can ignore it again.

Stephanie Penn, McConnell's spokeswoman, says that McConnell and staff "have been working closely with interested parties regarding future funding for the program, and will continue to ensure these important benefits are maintained." But there's absolutely no reason that the restoration of the full tax couldn't be included in the legislation he just dropped. Unless McConnell cares more about the coal company owners and their tax breaks than the workers, his constituents. Spoiler alert: he does.

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