$40M LIHEAP funding to help Maine’s low-income families stay warm

Collins photo Courtesy / MEDILL DC, FLICKR; King photo Courtesy / U.S. Naval War College, FLICKR U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, were among 40 bipartisan senators who signed a letter to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar urging him to release LIHEAP funds as quickly as possible. On Monday, Collins announced that Maine would receive almost $40 million in LIHEAP funding to help low-income residents with their heating costs.

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By Staff

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services will release $39.8 million in funding to Maine through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. The funding includes $1.45 million for tribal governments.

In announcing the funding disbursement on Monday, U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, said preserving LIHEAP funding is one of her priorities.

She noted that she worked to block attempts to pare back the funding appropriated for LIHEAP, including writing a letter with Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., to Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar urging him to release LIHEAP funds as quickly as possible. Their letter was signed by 40 bipartisan senators, including U.S. Sen. Angus King, I-Maine.

Collins and Reed earlier had sent a letter, signed by 44 of their colleagues, including King, calling on the Trump administration to restore and continue to prioritize funding for LIHEAP in fiscal year 2019.

“Vulnerable Mainers rely on the LIHEAP program to keep warm during the winter months,” Collins said in a news release. “This funding will help ensure that low-income families and seniors do not have to make the impossible choice between paying for heat and paying for food or medicine”

The following funding will be allocated to Maine tribes, which is a portion of the $39.8 million in LIHEAP funds awarded to Maine:

Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians: $173,100
Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians: $173,100
Passamaquoddy Tribe, Indian Township: $330,283
Passamaquoddy Tribe, Pleasant Point: $460,805
Penobscot Tribe: $317,151.

About LIHEAP

LIHEAP is the main federal program that helps low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, providing vital assistance during both the cold winter and hot summer months. LIHEAP households are among the most vulnerable in the country. According to the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, more than 90% of LIHEAP recipients have at least one household member who is a child, elderly, or disabled, and 20% of households include at least one veteran.