Under President Obama’s budget plan issued Monday, eastern Kentucky and other parts of Appalachia affected by the loss of coal jobs could be thrown a lifeline.
The federal budget proposal contains $1 billion for redevelopment projects aimed at improving the economy of coal communities. The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the White House budget also proposes spending $20 million to help laid-off miners find new work. An additional $25 million is set aside for the Appalachian Regional Commission to help entrepreneurs in distressed coal areas. The budget would infuse money into the under-funded United Mine Workers of America health and pension plans. The budget proposal faces an uphill climb in Congress. In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called it “cold comfort for the Obama administration to propose easing the pain they’ve helped inflict on so many Kentucky coal families.”
Earlier Monday, McConnell announced that he has joined the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, allowing him to help oversee the budget for the EPA, which the Republican leader has accused of being anti-coal.