by MAPLight.org
A bill to help rescue miners in emergencies and protect miners’ safety was
defeated in Congress three years ago. After passing the House, the bill, called
the S-MINER Act, died in a Senate committee.
Mining interests, who were opposed to this bill, gave twice as much money in
campaign contributions to House members who voted against the bill as they gave
to members who voted in favor.
In the Senate committee where the bill died, mining firms gave more than
twice as much money to committee members as the unions in
support.
Background
The recent explosion at the Massey Energy coal mine in West Virginia that
killed 29 coal miners has left many bewildered Americans questioning how the
federal government could have prevented this tragedy. It has been reported that
Massey was in violation of safety regulations and that federal regulatory oversight of mining conditions was
lax.
In June of 2007, Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) introduced the Supplemental Mine
Improvement and New Emergency Response Act (S-MINER) Act, which, according to the Congressional Research
Service, would have supplemented existing mining provisions in the Federal Mine
Act to require: “(1) emergency response plans to incorporate new technology; (2)
the Secretary of Labor to require the installation of rescue chambers in
underground coal mines; and (3) accident response plans to provide for the
maintenance of refuges.”
Miller chairs the House Committee on Education and
Labor, which issued a report stating: “The S-MINER Act aims to prevent disasters
and, in cases where disasters do occur, to improve emergency response. It also
aims to reduce long-term health risks facing miners, such as black lung.”
Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) explained the bill was necessary because the 2006 MINER Act
provisions had not been effectively enforced. So far, I am concerned that the
slow pace of reform is leaving America’s miners at risk. We’ve made progress.
But [the Mine Safety & Health Administration (MSHA)] has not moved
aggressively to implement all of the provisions of the MINER
Act.”
Opposition
Two months after introduction of the bill, the Crandall Canyon mining
disaster occurred, killing six miners in Utah. Even after this tragedy
highlighted the dangers of industry standard practices and deficiencies of
regulatory oversight, the mining industry continued to oppose the bill. The
National Mining Association’s Vice President for Safety, Health and Human
Resources testified before the committee. “To be forced to respond to an
additional layer of statutory requirements at this time will undermine the
progress that has been made on miner training and other vital objectives of the
act. It is premature to consider imposing further legislation before the full
impact of the original MINER Act can be comprehensively evaluated.” Further
opposition cited concerns about energy independence and job losses. Congressman
Don Young of Alaska (R) argued, “If this bill was to become law, mines will be shut
down. They will be shut down.” The Bush Administration also strongly opposed the
bill, claiming that “several of the regulatory mandates in the
S-MINER bill would weaken several existing regulations and overturn regulatory
processes that were required by the MINER Act and are ongoing.”
Money and Votes
After four amendments were considered and three passed, the House passed
the S-MINER Act in January 2008. The bill subsequently died in the Senate
Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee. The HELP Subcommittee on
Employment and Workplace Safety, chaired by Sen. Murray, met to consider the
bill. Only three members were present for the hearing. No further action was
taken on this bill.
For the House vote, 25 House Democrats and nearly all House Republicans voted
against the bill. On average, House opponents received 103 percent more money from mining interests than House
members voting Yes (an average of $12,526 to each member voting No, $6,174 to
each voting Yes). Democrats voting No received 197 percent more money from mining interests than their
colleagues voting Yes (an average of $16,314 to each Democrat voting No, $5,489
to each votin g Yes).
Seven House Republicans, including West Virginia’s Shelley Capito, supported
passage of the bill, although they received little campaign funding from unions,
the primary special interest MAPLight.org found to be supporting the
bill.
Members of the Senate HELP Committee received 122 percent more from the
mining interests than from the unions (see table below). Only three committee
members represent states that have a significant mining industry. Sen. Murray
received more than twice as much money from mining interests than any other
Democrat on the committee, although her state of Washington is not ranked as a
top mining industry state.
Don Blankenship, CEO of Massey and board member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, has spent millions
of dollars in personal funds to support judicial and state political campaigns,
including $3 million in an attempt to buy a West Virginia state Supreme Court
justice. Nearly another $400,000 was disbursed by Massey’s employees,
including Blankenship, over the last four election cycles to state and federal
candidates, according to query results from a new Sunlight Foundation transparency database. Also, see the Center for Responsive
Politics’ Capital Eye blog for more information about contributions and
lobbying expenditures by Massey and its CEO.
Contributions (2003-2008) from interest groups that supported and opposed
the S-MINER Act to members of the Senate HELP Committee in the 110th
Congress
Senate HELP Committee
Member
Party
State
State Rank in
Mining Production
$ From
Supporting Interest Groups
$ From
Opposing Interest Groups
Isakson, John
R
GA
20th
$0
$97,500
Murray, Patty
D
WA
32nd
$42,000
$74,141
Hatch, Orrin
R
UT
6th
$0
$73,350
Murkowski, Lisa
R
AK
10th
$0
$72,850
Enzi, Michael
R
WY
3rd
$0
$68,600
Burr, Richard
R
NC
26th
$0
$63,449
Alexander, Lamar
R
TN
28th
$0
$45,800
Roberts, Pat
R
KS
25th
$0
$40,300
Bingaman, Jeff
D
NM
16th
$10,000
$33,400
Clinton, Hillary
D
NY
24th
$24,500
$22,700
Coburn, Thomas
R
OK
31st
$0
$22,299
Gregg, Judd
R
NH
47th
$0
$11,800
Dodd, Christopher
D
CT
44th
$18,500
$9,000
Allard, Wayne
R
CO
12th
$0
$7,500
Obama, Barack
D
IL
19th
$29,500
$7,000
Brown, Sherrod
D
OH
21st
$65,250
$6,000
Harkin, Thomas
D
IA
33rd
$23,850
$5,550
Mikulski, Barbara
D
MD
29
th
$26,000
$4,500
Reed, John
D
RI
49th
$11,000
$4,000
Kennedy, Edward
D
MA
39th
$4,500
$0
Sanders, Bernard
I
VT
48th
$46,800
$0
Total
$301,900
$669,739
Methodology
Campaign contributions data provided by the Center for Responsive Politics’
OpenSecrets Open Data. Date range of contributions is: Jan. 1, 2003 –
Dec. 31, 2008. According to MAPLight.org, manufacturing unions and mining
unions supported the S-MINER Act and the following interest groups opposed: coal
mining, metal mining and processing; mining; mon-metallic mining; and stone,
clay, glass and concrete products. Contributions to the presidential campaigns
of members of Congress are not included.
The ranking of state mining production is from Table 2 of the National Mining
Association’s report on The
Economic Contributions of U.S. Mining in 2007.
Related Links:
Don Blankenship called safety regulators ‘as silly as global warming’
Before the Massey mine disaster, there was Crandall Canyon
Grist: hating on Don Blankenship before hating on Don Blankenship was cool