New England Senators Call for Extra Heating Assistance Funds
Thermostat. (image: ➨ Redvers via flickr.com)
The AP reported on Thursday that six U.S. senators are beseeching the President for more emergency funding for home heating aid in their states. The senators, all from northern New England—Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine—are seeking $590 million in assistance through the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). (LIHEAP, which is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, helps low-income families stay warm, literally, by ensuring their home heating oil, and other energy needs, are met.)
The New England reps aren’t the only government officials looking for this type of support, either. New York senator Charles Schumer has made a similar request of the federal government, looking for millions of dollars to help his state’s residents stay warm.
According to the news service, 8.3 million households in the U.S. needed this type of assistance last year. For his part, Sanders, whose state currently has $25.6 million allocated in this area, thinks that statistic will spike this year; he thinks the program will see some 10 million applicants who need help to heat their homes in 2010.
Markey Proposes Increase in Heating Oil Assistance Funding | HeatingOil.com says: says:
[...] of a substantial medium-term increase in LIHEAP funding, following a short-term request for additional emergency funds put forth by six New England senators in early January of this year. President Obama responded to the request by releasing emergency [...]