Senators’ last-minute demands may delay funding bill

Senators on both sides of the aisle are making last-minute demands of Senate leaders and threatening to hold up a bill to fund the government until Feb. 8.

The stopgap bill was expected to pass Wednesday evening but could wind up being delayed until Thursday. 

{mosads}Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) are leading an effort to include legislation reauthorizing the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and passage of the Yellowstone Gateway Protection Act, according to Senate aides.

Daines argued at a recent press conference that his constituents don’t have access to 1.5 million acres of public lands in Montana.

“Jon has been very vocal about demanding that Congress permanently reauthorize and fully fund LWCF and he supports getting it done before Congress adjourns,” said Marnee Banks, a spokeswoman for Tester. 

Sens. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) also support the effort, according to a Senate GOP aide.

Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), meanwhile, is pushing for legislation benefiting miners to be attached to the short-term spending package. 

He wants to include an extension of the coal excise tax to fund the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund, and an expansion of the Coal Act to cover “orphan” miners from 2018 bankruptcies and a fix to the United Mine Workers of America. 

“Our nation’s coal miners made a commitment to provide our nation with the energy we needed to power our nation to prosperity and they risked their health and lives to do so. Now is not the time to pull back on funding or abandon our miners in their hour of need. It is time for us to keep our full promise to them and ensure their benefits are not lost,” Manchin wrote in a letter to Senate and House leaders.

Sens. Mark Warner (D-Va.), Bob Casey Jr. (D-Pa.), Doug Jones (D-Ala.), Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) also signed the letter.