# 119-s-3505: Relief for Survivors of Miners Act of 2025

119-s-3505, Relief for Survivors of Miners Act of 2025, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-03).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3505
- As of: 2026-10-03
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-3505
- Congress: 119
- Title: Relief for Survivors of Miners Act of 2025
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2025-12-16
- Sponsor: Sen. Warner, Mark R. [D-VA] (D-VA)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Labor and Employment
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-03

## Summary

**Would make it easier for survivors to win Black Lung benefits by creating two legal presumptions that tie miners’ deaths or disabilities to pneumoconiosis.** It would also restore certain pre-1981 disability language, create a program to pay some attorneys’ fees and unreimbursed medical costs, and require GAO reviews of benefit and payment practices. - Families and survivors: A miner with at least 10 years of coal mine employment would create a rebuttable presumption that death was due to pneumoconiosis, and a separate rebuttable presumption would cover miners who were totally disabled by the disease in life. These presumptions would apply to claims filed on or after a date five years before enactment and to claims pending on or after enactment. - Claimants and attorneys: A new program would pay approved attorneys’ fees and unreimbursed medical expenses for qualifying contested claims. Fees may be approved up to $1,500 by a district director and $3,000 by an administrative law judge, with a $4,500 cap per claim for attorneys’ fees and up to $3,000 per claim for medical expenses. - Coal operators and the Black Lung fund: If a qualifying claim leads to an award, the liable operator must reimburse the fund for any program payments, with enforcement modeled on existing compensation orders. - Oversight for Congress: The Comptroller General would report within one year on interim benefit payments, adequacy of benefit levels, and the effects of allowing survivors to file subsequent claims, with recommendations to Congress.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Sen. Alsobrooks, Angela D. [D-MD] (D-MD), 2026-09-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Kaine, Tim [D-VA] (D-VA), 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z
- Sen. Fetterman, John [D-PA] (D-PA), 2025-12-16T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Pays legal and medical costs for claimants: benefit, high. If enacted, the Labor Secretary would have to set up a program within 180 days to pay attorneys' fees and unreimbursed medical costs from the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. You would qualify if your Black Lung claim is contested and has no final order within one year of filing. The program would…
- Restore survivor benefits for miners: benefit, high. If enacted, the bill would restore pre-1981 survivor coverage and ease proof for deaths from pneumoconiosis. It would create a rebuttable presumption that a miner's death was caused by pneumoconiosis if the miner worked at least 10 years in a coal mine, rebuttable only by showing no part of the dea…

## Related bills

- 119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act
- 119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026
- 119-s-1503: Equality Act
- 119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act
- 119-sres-854: A resolution designating September 2026 as "National Voting Rights Month".
- 119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-3505 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/3505)

## Related
- [119-s-51: Washington, D.C. Admission Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-51)
- [119-s-5108: Right to IVF Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5108)
- [119-s-1503: Equality Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1503)
- [119-s-1748: Kids Online Safety Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1748)
- [119-sres-854: A resolution designating September 2026 as "National Voting Rights Month".](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-sres-854)
- [119-s-2150: Women’s Health Protection Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2150)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3505 (as of 2026-10-03).