Word is that there’s some sort of a deal that would turn the controversial mine safety bill pending in the West Virginia Senate into another “agreed to bill.”

At least that’s what state Sen. Randy Smith, R-Tucker, indicated on Saturday. The actual language of the expected “committee substitute” hasn’t been made public yet, but will apparently be discussed tomorrow during a 1 p.m. meeting of the Senate Committee on Energy, Industry and Mining, which Smith (an official from Mettiki Coal) chairs.

Smith let word of the deal slip on Saturday during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, when he was asking about any progress among various stakeholder groups to work out a deal on a “forced pooling” bill that the natural gas industry very much wants. Smith offered no details, but said of the deal he says he helped work out, “Everybody lost something, but everybody gained something, too.”

Meanwhile, the West Virginia mine safety bill and somewhat similar legislation moving in Kentucky got the attention of the editorial board of The New York Times, which commented today:

President Trump’s vow to bring back the coal industry’s heyday is a delusion. But it’s already inspiring Republican legislatures in Appalachia to resurrect a grim element of those boom times: loose safety laws that endangered miners’ lives and protected owners’ profits.

… Federal safety standards should be adequate, the sponsors airily insist. In truth, both state and federal governments should continue to exercise parallel responsibilities in protecting miners’ health and safety. This is particularly vital now that Mr. Trump’s proposed budget would inflict a 21 percent cut on the Labor Department, which is responsible for federal mine inspections.

… Political pandering is nothing new in Appalachia, where the coal industry has wooed and intimidated generations of state lawmakers to favor mine owners. But this latest bout, launched in tandem with Mr. Trump’s fantasy job promises, can only leave remaining miners in greater danger on the job.