LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - A report from a national watchdog group says a cut to the tax that coal companies pay to fund a trust for sick miners will cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
The Washington-based group Taxpayers for Common Sense released a report that says the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund's debt could be at least $15 billion by 2050.
The excise tax on mined coal expired at the beginning of 2019 due to inaction by Congress. That led to a reduction in the amount coal companies pay into the fund.
The fund pays benefits and medical bills for miners diagnosed with black lung disease.
