At first glance, it looks like U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet has introduced a bill to support coal communities and help coal workers keep their jobs.
But it’s really just a half-baked idea that will likely go nowhere, as Bennet’s bills have a poor record of passage. Even if by some miracle it did pass, here’s what coal miners might get — training if it’s available to get another job unlikely to pay much above minimum wage.
Bennet’s bill doesn’t help miners so much as it just offers low-hanging incentives for non-mining business of any sort to open shop in one of 90 counties across the nation.
Mostly what the bill does is offer incentives, paid for by taxpayers, for non-mining businesses to open. The biggest bonus we see is that businesses that employ former miners would get a $3,000 tax credit.
As for the actual workforce, colleges would get money to “expand career training programs” away from coal.
In short, it offers no support for coal communities, just some worthless incentives to move away from coal.
Bennet’s press release headline reads that:
Coal Community Empowerment Act Would Provide Incentives for Investment, Job Creation, and Training in Coal Communities
More accurately, the headline should have read:
Coal Jobs Aren’t Worth Saving.