Senators Defend Importance of LIHEAP Funds to Stimulus Package
LiheapDay
New London Day
Erin Kutz
Boston University Washington News Service
Jan. 30
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators pushing to add Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds to the economic stimulus plan now before the Senate have rebuffed warnings that their proposal would hinder passage of the plan.
At a press conference Wednesday, Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) defended the importance of the additional funds to the stimulus plan’s aims. “It fits with what should be the concept of any stimulus package: it’s timely, targeted and temporary,” he said.
The House passed the $146 billion economic stimulus plan 385-35 on Tuesday. Senators at the press conference said they hoped to vote on the plan by the end of next week.
Studies on the economic effect of the energy assistance program found that every dollar spent on the program returns $5.37 to the economy. And according to a Reed press release, every million dollars spent on it generates an average of 94 jobs nationally.
Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) did not attend the news conference but last week joined 33 other senators in a bipartisan request to add $3.62 billion for low-income home energy aid to the stimulus package.
These funds, Dodd said in a press release, “will be spent immediately to stimulate the economy and provide a vital safety net to families and seniors so they are not forced to choose between paying their energy bills and purchasing needed medicines and food.”
Teresa Carver, a recipient of home heating aid in Arkansas, said at the news conference that the aid was received while she was out of work recovering from heart surgery.
“I applaud their effort to include this,” U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney (D-Conn.) said of the senators’ proposal. “There is no question in my mind of the struggle people are having paying their bills.”
Courtney said money for programs such as energy assistance, food stamps and workers’ compensation was cut from the original Democratic proposal as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) negotiated the stimulus package with the White House and Republican House leaders. The tradeoff, he said, was to extend the plan’s tax rebate to individuals who earned as little as $3,000 last year.
Courtney said the Senate’s proposal should not prove a barrier to the passage of the stimulus legislation. “Energy assistance is a relatively small piece of the package,” he said. “I hope it will not be viewed as a deal-breaker.”
On Jan 17, President Bush released an additional $450 million of emergency funds for the home energy program, with nearly $13.6 million going to Connecticut. Courtney said Bush is still withholding $150 million of such aid. Though Gov. M. Jodi Rell said the state would cover heating assistance shortfalls, Courtney said state funds should be reserved for other costs in the economic downturn.
“It’s been a long running battle with this administration,” Courtney said. “They really have hostility” toward the home energy aid program.
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