Collins and Snowe Support Additional Funds for Home Heating
Rally
Bangor Daily News
Vicki Ekstrom
Boston University Washington News Service
1/30/2008
WASHINGTON—Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, is leading the fight in the Senate to amend the economic stimulus package, passed by the House Tuesday, to include up to $1.5 billion to help low-income people pay their home heating bills.
The money would be additional funds for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which provides grants to low-income families.
“It is so important that we act now, and the nexus between home heating assistance and the stimulus bill is a very clear one,” Collins said during a press conference at the Capitol Wednesday morning. “High energy costs are one of the reasons for the economic downturn. If we increase LIHEAP we will not only help so many struggling low-income families and seniors, we will also help our economy.”
Maine has received more than $35 million this year in home energy funds, which is about the same as last year, according to the Maine State Housing Authority, while energy costs continue to skyrocket. This means that the more than 47,000 families receiving assistance are getting about the same aid to pay heating bills that cost $600 a year more than last year. Additionally, more than 5,000 families have applied for aid and are not yet receiving it, according to the authority.
More than 35 senators are supporting the Collins amendment, but there is opposition to amending the House bill because it would delay approval of the stimulus package. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has proposed a number of amendments to the House bill, and a decision is expected this week on whether the amendments will be considered.
“I hope we can garner enough support, but it’s going to be hard,” Collins said in an interview, “but we surely have to try. It really matters.”
When temperatures go to 26 below, as they did last week in Caribou, and home heating prices continue to skyrocket, heating bills increase and families struggle to pay their heating bills.
Mike Hatt of Cherryfield receives $700 a year from the home energy aid program, but it is not enough to cover his $600 a month heating bill.
Hatt was laid off from his job at a local cutting and land clearing company last fall. His family was soon forced to move after his wife developed seizures from mold in their home and the home was condemned, Hatt said in a telephone interview.
Caring for two sons and sick grandparents, Hatt struggled to pay his home heating bills. His parents and a third son helped the family get through the holiday season, Hatt said, but now he relies on home energy grants to help keep his family warm this winter.
“Everywhere I go in Maine, I hear the very real stories of those who are struggling with record-high energy prices,” Collins said. “No one should be forced to sacrifice the necessities of life such as food, rent, and prescription drugs to pay heating costs. And no one should be forced to suffer through a severe winter without heat.”
Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, also supports the amendment to give additional money to the assistance program.
“By including additional LIHEAP support in the economic stimulus package, we can ensure that our families and seniors won’t have to decide between heating their homes and feeding their children,” Snowe said.
Earlier this month the Office of Management and Budget released $450 million from its LIHEAP fund, upon Collins’s urging. Of that, Maine will receive $8.8 million to assist families struggling to pay their record-high home heating bills. These funds are in addition to the more than $2.5 billion released by the federal budget office as part of an appropriations bill Congress passed in December.
###
