Associated Press Published

Manchin Plans Town Hall Meeting With Miners

Sen. Joe Manchin takes questions from reporters before the town hall meeting.

West Virginia’s Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin has announced a Town Hall meeting Friday in the state’s southern coal country to meet with miners.Sen. Joe Manchin takes questions from reporters before the town hall meeting.

Manchin has been pushing legislation to extend health and pension benefits to retired union miners, saying they were promised by then-President Harry Truman and are about to expire.

The Town Hall is scheduled at United Mine Workers of America Local 1440.

West Virginia voted overwhelmingly for Republican President Trump whose troubled coal industry Trump promised to help.

Manchin recently attended four Town Hall meetings across the state hosted by health care advocates concerning congressional proposals to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act.

The Democrat opposed the House Republican substitute but said so-called Obamacare needs repair. The law extended health care to about 200,000 West Virginians.