Senators Push to Attach LIHEAP Funding to Stimulus Plan
FUNDING
Worcester Telegram and Gazette
Jason Millman
Boston University Washington News Service
January 30, 2008
WASHINGTON – Citing a need for extra assistance to help low-income families pay for home energy, a bipartisan group of senators has called for extra funds to be included in the economic stimulus plan, playing down concerns that changing the House version of the bill in the Senate could slow the process of approving the stimulus package.
The senators asked that up to $3.6 billion be attached to the stimulus plan to provide funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in a press conference Wednesday morning before the Senate debated the stimulus plan on the floor.
President Bush, in his State of the Union address Monday night, urged the House to quickly pass a $146 billion stimulus plan to provide tax rebates and business tax breaks in an effort to lift the lagging economy. He urged the Senate not to “load up the bill” with more spending because it would “delay or derail” the stimulus plan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also has pressed the Senate to quickly approve the House version of the bill, which passed 385-35 on Tuesday.
Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, said she wants to meet the president’s goal of passing the stimulus by next week but stressed that the Senate needs to inspect the bill before signing off on it.
“The idea that the Senate shouldn’t have ideas . . . is not one I can accept,” Ms. Collins said during the press conference.
Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass., announced his support of the move to include home energy assistance in the stimulus package.
“Unless Washington acts, we’ll have thousands of people go cold this winter, and that’s unacceptable,” Mr. Kerry said in a statement.
Two weeks ago, Mr. Bush released $450 million in emergency funds – of which Massachusetts received $27.2 million – to help low-income families pay their heating bills Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, urged the Bush administration to provide more funds after the emergency money was released.
“The administration must work to see that this program is fully funded, ensuring that no one will be left out in the cold,” Sen. Kennedy said.
As of now, Massachusetts is set to receive $109.1 million in home energy aid for the 2008 fiscal year, down from $126.5 million in the 2006 fiscal year, according to the National Community Action Foundation.
Almost 141,000 Massachusetts residents received some form of such assistance last winter, according to the state’s Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development.
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