WASHINGTON, DC -- With the federal government on the verge of a potential shutdown, a bipartisan group of 34 U.S. Senators, led by Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), are working to ensure that low-income Americans who need heating assistance are not left out in the cold. As Congress considers a short-term spending plan, Reed and Collins and their colleagues are seeking to ensure it restores vital federal heating aid funds.The Senators sent a bipartisan letter urging a level of $3.46 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the continuing resolution (CR) to fund the government past September 30, 2013. Without the Reed-Collins LIHEAP fix, the program could be reduced to as little as $2.82 billion during the cold winter months ahead.
The Senators wrote: "In order to prevent added uncertainty and a decrease in the amount of funding available for grant awards compared to last year, we ask that you include language in the continuing resolution specifically directing the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release the full amount of each state's LIHEAP allocation at the fiscal year 2012 level. This would follow past precedent. The fiscal year 2013 Continuing Appropriations Act enacted in March extended fiscal year 2012 funding through September 30th and directed HHS to distribute funds under the same formula. We believe that the continued economic challenges, seasonality of the LIHEAP program, and anticipated length of the upcoming continuing resolution necessitates this specific stipulation for LIHEAP once again."
In recent years, the struggling U.S. economy and still high energy prices have caused record numbers of
