LIHEAP

April 7, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is calling on Senate appropriators to fully fund the Low-Income Housing and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for fiscal year 2009. Feingold is requesting $5.1 billion for LIHEAP; the Administration’s budget request would only provide $2 billion, forcing states to either lower benefit amounts or assist fewer people.

Oil furnace plate: Photo by wader (CC)    » read more »

Budget Amendment Provides Additional Funding for Health Research, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Washington, D.C. -- March 13, 2008 -- Today, U.S. Senators Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Ranking Member and Chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies, successfully championed through an amendment to the FY09 Budget Resolution. The amendment, soundly passed by a vote of 95-4, increases funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by $2.1 billion.    » read more »

United States Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee Hearing

March 5, 2008 -- (As Prepared for Delivery)

I commend Chairman Dodd for holding this hearing. It’s an incredibly important issue for millions of Americans struggling to keep warm and pay their bills this winter.

With energy prices rising across the board, countless families can’t afford to pay for heat, particularly when the economy is getting weaker every day.    » read more »

01/30/2008 -- Senator Bernie Sanders and others are pushing to include home-energy assistance funding in an economic stimulus package the Senate is debating. Growing energy costs and cold weather have made additional funding a necessity for low-income families, seniors on fixed incomes and the disabled. Funding in the stimulus plan would be used immediately to help pay utility bills, jumpstart the economy and support small businesses that deliver heating fuels.    » read more »

January 30, 2008 -- Montpelier, Vt. — Vermont Governor Jim Douglas and the Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG) today sent a letter to the United States Senate urging them to include additional funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) currently being considered in Washington.    » read more »

January 24, 2008 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold is calling on the Senate leadership to fully fund the Low-Income Housing and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) for the current year. In a letter, Feingold requested additional fiscal year 2008 funds to provide a total of $5.1 billion—previous appropriations have only provided about 50 percent (or $2.6 billion) of the authorized funds. Feingold also recently urged that full funding be included in the President’s budget for next year, which will be released soon.    » read more »

Jan 24, 2008 -- LITTLE ROCK – Arkansas Governor Beebe today joined with community leaders and energy officials in calling for additional funding for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP. Next week, advocates for low-income assistance will converge on Washington, DC, encouraging Congress to increase LIHEAP funding by $800 million to help elderly, disabled and low-income Americans offset increasing energy costs.    » read more »

BURLINGTON, January 16 – U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and Congressman Peter Welch announced the release of $450 million in home heating emergency funds, including $3.9 million for Vermont.

As prices for home heating fuel soar to record highs this winter, Sanders has introduced legislation, cosponsored by Leahy, which would increase funding for the Low Income Home Heating Assistance Program by another $800 million. Welch introduced companion legislation in the U.S. House.    » read more »

January 16, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, DC- Following a request made by U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) to the President in a December 10th letter, the White House Office of Management and Budget today agreed to release $450 million from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) contingency fund. Pennsylvania will receive approximately $44.3 million of this federal funding to help families heat their homes this winter.    » read more »

$44 million will Assist Low-Income Families with Heating Costs

January 16, 2008 - Pennsylvania Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today announced that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has provided $44.287 million to Pennsylvania to assist the Commonwealth’s low-income families in paying their heating bills. The funding is administered through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) which helps eligible families pay the costs of heating and insulating their homes in the winter and cooling their homes in the summer.    » read more »

January 16, 2008 -- AUGUSTA – Maine will receive an additional $8.8 million from the federal government to support heating assistance for low-income families.

The money represents Maine’s share of $450 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program contingency funding released Wednesday by the federal government. Another $156 million remains in the contingency fund.    » read more »

Clinton to Support Amendment Adding $800 Million in Additional Funding for Heating Assistance as Part of the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill

December 18, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today announced that $2.6 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) will be included in the Fiscal Year 2008 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. In addition, Senator Clinton announced that she is cosponsoring an amendment by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) to add an additional $800 million in LIHEAP funding to the bill.    » read more »

December 11, 2007 -- LANSING - Michigan Governor Jennifer M. Granholm, along with a bipartisan group of other Midwestern governors, today sent a letter urging Congress to increase federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), similar to what was appropriated in 2006.    » read more »

December 5, 2007 -- BOSTON - Senators John Kerry and Edward Kennedy, along with 22 of their colleagues, co-sponsored the Keep Americans Warm Act of 2007, a bill to provide an additional $1 billion in emergency Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding. This emergency assistance would be in addition to the overall Fiscal Year 2008 LIHEAP funding.    » read more »

12/05/2007 -- As Vermont dug out from the season’s first major winter snow storm and temperatures plunged below freezing, emergency legislation to provide $1 billion for home heating assistance was introduced today in the Senate by Senators Bernie Sanders and Patrick Leahy and in the House of Representatives by Congressman Peter Welch.    » read more »