In an effort to help low-income families keep pace with escalating heating bills this winter, U.S. Senators Olympia J. Snowe and Susan Collins have cosponsored legislation that would provide an additional $1 billion in emergency funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This funding is in addition to the $2.412 billion that Congress has included in the FY 2008 Labor-HHS Appropriations bill. The bipartisan “Keep Americans Warm Act of 2007” is authored by Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN) and Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and is currently cosponsored by 23 Senators.
“It is absolutely essential that we provide a commensurate response to the emergency occurring throughout Maine homes,” said Senator Snowe. “As I heard throughout the state in the last two weeks, the amount of fuel aid barely covers a fraction of winter heating costs. This is unacceptable. We need to strongly augment the funding in order to provide a basic level of heating assistance.”
“This week, Maine received its first significant snowfall—and the official start of winter is still two weeks away,” said Senator Collins. “As the temperature continues to drop, many Mainers are becoming increasingly worried about the high cost of energy. They wonder how they will be able to afford to heat their homes. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation to provide additional funding for the LIHEAP program in order to help our neediest families overcome this energy emergency.”
LIHEAP is a federal grant program that provides states with funding for home energy assistance programs. The LIHEAP program provides assistance for 48,000 low-income and elderly Mainers each year.
Also today, Senators Snowe and Collins sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee requesting that the committee approve an additional $1 billion in emergency LIHEAP funding.
In September, Senators Snowe and Collins successfully secured $7.2 million in contingency LIHEAP funds for Maine. The Senators also supported a $250 million increase in LIHEAP funding that is currently included in the Labor-HHS bill. In addition, last month, Senators Snowe and Collins wrote to the Administration requesting that $5.1 billion for LIHEAP be included in the President 2009 budget request.