WV congressmen vote to cut MSHA budget
WV congressmen vote to cut MSHA budget
Ken Ward Jr. , Staff Writer
September 14, 2017
As coal mining deaths in West Virginia increase this year, all three of the states U.S. House members voted this week for additional cuts in the coal mine safety enforcement budget for the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration.
Reps. David McKinley, Evan Jenkins and Alex Mooney, all R-W.Va., voted in favor of a budget amendment that would have slashed funding and staff at MSHAs coal division by 10 percent for the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1.
The amendment, proposed by Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., failed Wednesday night on
a vote of 178-238 .
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Twelve coal miners have died on the job nationwide in 2017, with six of those deaths occurring in West Virginia. Mining deaths are on the rise nationally and in West Virginia, after dropping for several years following the deaths of 29 miners in the April 2010 explosion at Massey Energys Upper Big Branch Mine, in Raleigh County.
Reach Ken Ward Jr. at kward@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-1702 or follow @kenwardjr on Twitter.