Feds release $5M for Maine’s heating assistance program
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is releasing almost $5.3 million in funding for Maine through the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, including $193,000 for tribes and tribal organizations. Maine will receive a total of $40.25 million for LIHEAP in fiscal year 2018, an increase of more than $1 million over the previous year.
The announcement was made by U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, and Angus King, I-Maine, a member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
“Access to affordable home energy during the cold winter months is a matter of health and safety for many low-income families and seniors in Maine and across the country,” said Collins and King in a joint statement. “This funding is welcome news as these programs remain important lifelines that help prevent vulnerable individuals from having to choose between heating their home, paying their bills or going without food or medicine.”
Collins and King have long led bipartisan efforts to support federal funding for LIHEAP and weatherization programs. Most recently, Senator Collins helped to secure $3.6 billion — an increase of $250 million — for LIHEAP in the FY 2018 funding bill that was signed into law in March.
DHHS released a total of $609 million to states, tribes, and territories as part of this $3.6 billion in funding.
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