Maine to Get $79 Million in Heating Assistance
MAINE LIHEAP
Bangor Daily News
Maite Jullian
Boston University Washington News Service
10/16/08
WASHINGTON – Maine will receive $79.2 million in the new fiscal year to finance the federal program of heating assistance to low-income families, which would help more than 80,000 households to pay their energy bills, according to the Maine State Housing Authority.
Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe announced Thursday that President Bush directed the Department of Health and Human Services to release $5.1 billion nationwide for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
“This is very good news,” Collins said in a statement. “This impending winter will bring a sharp increase in applications for LIHEAP assistance. This funding will go a long way to helping low-income Mainers stay warm this winter.”
The State Housing Authority is getting $49.5 million in base funding and $29.7 million in emergency funding. The latter amount, the 5th highest among all states, is set aside and may be used in case of extreme cold winter or an extreme rise in heating oil prices.
In 2008, Maine received $46 million to help low-income families pay their energy bill. The new total represents a 72 percent increase over last year.
“We are delighted,” said Dale McCormick, director of the Maine Housing Authority. “It is going to allow us to keep the benefits of last year’s amount and serve about 33,000 more households.”
“It was essential for the administration to identify the heating oil burden as a critical and timely priority and to fund the program accordingly,” Snowe said in a press release.
Even though there is a sharp increase in funds, Maine’s eligible families will actually receive a little less assistance because the administration also modified the eligibility requirements to increase the number of eligible recipients.
Previously, to be eligible a family had to earn no more than 170 percent of the poverty level or 60 percent of the state median income.
Dan Simpson, spokesman for the State Housing Authority, said that under the new requirements, a family must now earn no more than 230 percent of the poverty level or 75 percent of the state median income.
Simpson said that about 50,000 households received an average $779 from the program last year. In 2009, 84,000 families will receive an average of about $722.
“We have more money to get spread over more people, so the average benefit is going to stay about the same,” McCormick said. “But we are going to target the money to the neediest households.”
Last year the program assisted 4.5 million low-income families nationally, or only about 15 percent of eligible families.
The House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming said last month that home heating oil prices were expected to reach a record $4.60 per gallon this winter, which would mean a $4,000 average heating bill for families.
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