July 30, 2026 - A bill recently introduced in the House would boost federal benefits for coal miners who have black lung disease, ensuring the benefits keep up with inflation in future years.

Sponsored by Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA), the Support Our Miners Act (H.R. 9556) states that miners enrolled in the Department of Labor’s Black Lung Benefits Program “receive nearly 40% less than the value of the original” monthly benefit amount allotted when the program was established in 1969, after accounting for inflation.

The legislation would increase benefits to compensate for this gap and ensure benefits are adjusted for inflation annually.

The Black Lung Benefits Program is intended to provide compensation to coal miners who have been disabled by black lung – a deadly condition also known as coal workers’ pneumoconiosis that’s caused by exposure to respirable coal mine dust – and their dependent survivors. Although mine operators generally are responsible for playing black lung benefits, the taxpayer-supported Black Lung Disability Trust Fund helps finance benefits when no responsible mine operator is identifiable or an operator is unable to pay.

“Coal miners sacrificed their health to power this country, and they deserve benefits that allow them to live with dignity,” Lee said in a press release. “For decades, disabled miners and their families have watched the value of their benefits shrink while the cost of housing, food, health care and other necessities has continued to rise. The Support Our Miners Act is about keeping our promise to workers, honoring their sacrifices and ensuring miners suffering from black lung receive the support they have earned.”

Multiple worker groups and advocacy organizations support the bill, including the National Black Lung Association, Appalachian Citizens’ Law Center and Appalachian Voices.

“Right now, families in our coal communities are trying to get by on monthly disability benefits that simply haven’t kept pace with inflation,” Quenton King, government affairs specialist at Appalachian Voices, said in a separate release. “The Support Our Miners Act’s simple, commonsense tweak to the way benefits are calculated will have a tremendous impact on the lives of thousands of coal miners and family members in Appalachia and across the country. It’s long overdue.”

The bill has been referred to the House Education and Workforce Committee.