HARTFORD, CT - As the New England states prepare for the upcoming winter months, Governor Dannel P. Malloy and the governors of Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island today sent a letter to Congressional leaders urging that federal funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) be maintained at the level last authorized of $5.1 billion.
“Households in the Northeast face some of the nation’s highest home heating bills due to the long winter heating season and heating fuel prices that typically exceed national average prices regardless of the fuel used,” the New England governors wrote. “Households in our states are more likely to be dependent on expensive delivered fuels, such as home heating oil or propane.”
Reports have indicated that federal funding in FY2012 could be reduced by as much as 50 percent. “If LIHEAP funding in FY2012 is reduced to the level of $2.57 billion, our states will be required to take drastic measures that will endanger the most vulnerable LIHEAP households,” the governors wrote.
“We urge you to support a funding level of $5.1 billion in FY2012 so that this vital program can continue to offer modest yet urgently needed relief to millions of our nation’s most vulnerable households struggling with unaffordable energy bills.”
Earlier this week, the Malloy Administration announced it has begun making plans to protect the most vulnerable from possible cuts in federal heating assistance.
