WASHINGTON ― After more than a year of stalling, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday pushed to extend health benefits for retired coal miners and their widows in a government funding bill lawmakers hope to take up this week.

A bipartisan group of senators has pressured McConnell for months to bring legislation that would direct $3 billion over the next 10 years into health care and pension funds for miners. Roughly 17,000 retired miners are set to lose their health care benefits later this month, and an additional 4,000 would early next year without congressional action.

McConnell said he urged House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to include a measure that would extend at least the health benefits for another four months ― the length of the continuing resolution (CR) Congress needs to vote on by Dec. 9 to keep the government open.

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