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.
