Oil worker health care fund is sought by New Mexico congressman in swing district

U.S. Representative Gabe Vazquez said Wednesday that his bill would direct oil and gas companies to a trust to reimburse workers for health care costs related to methane- and smog-related illnesses, including respiratory illnesses such as asthma. He said he was obligated to pay.

Workers are eligible to seek reimbursement for costs not covered by private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, he said. Eligibility for certain medical conditions is determined based on federal labor and workplace safety guidelines.

Vazquez said the proposal stemmed from concerns he heard from oilfield workers in southeastern New Mexico and his views on the huge profits and executive pay of big oil companies. New Mexico is the second largest oil producer in the country after Texas.

“If you’re a Hobbes or Carlsbad energy worker and you have a child with asthma, you’re going to benefit from this law,” Vazquez said.

Energy companies with more than $50 million in annual revenue will be required to make annual contributions to the Oil Workers Health Trust. These companies must pay the fund as much as they would pay their 10 highest-paid employees, including bonuses and deferred compensation.

The bill has little chance of passing in the Republican-controlled House, and Republicans are expected to launch a package this year that eases permit restrictions that would significantly increase domestic fossil fuel production and slow pipelines, refineries and other projects. approved.

The initiative still stands against unrestricted support for the oil industry under Mr. Vazquez’s predecessor, Republican Yvette Heller, and energy policies under the Biden administration, which he said hindered the production of oil and other fossil fuels. It shows a shift in focus from his criticism.

Vazquez said he wants Democrats to take control of the congressional districts, which stretch from the U.S. border with Mexico to Albuquerque in 2022, under newly created congressional districts that divide New Mexico’s major oil-producing regions into three constituencies. moved down. Republicans are challenging the redistricting in state district court.

Vazquez’s bill includes compensation for heatstroke at work, an area of ​​growing concern this summer as the energy sector and other industries battle record temperatures. In July, President Joe Biden announced new measures aimed at protecting workers, including heat wave hazard warnings, improved forecasts and improved access to drinking water at work.

Vazquez unveiled the details of the health compensation bill at a rally in Hobbes with defenders of the immigrant rights group Somos Un Pueblo Unido. The event included testimony from an oil field worker and his spouse, speaking in Spanish about their dissatisfaction with working conditions.

“What really breaks my heart is the impact we’re left with in this industry and companies that don’t pay the price they deserve because it’s a fair system,” Vazquez said, also in Spanish. Told. “Today, we ask for your support in bringing the bill forward.”

Vazquez said the bill was modeled on a compensation program for miners disabled by black lung disease under a 1969 law.