(R-Presque Isle)
With the price of heating oil running well over $3 a gallon, the cost of heating our homes this winter will be financially painful. Seventy-five percent of Maine homes are heated with oil, the highest level of dependency in the nation. Based on recent forecasts, Mainers will pay an average of about $3,000 to stay warm this winter, almost $600 more than last year.
If heating costs heavily burden middle-income families, they will be punishing for folks at the bottom of the income ladder. Many of them depend on the federal heating assistance program to cover part of their fuel bills, but unfortunately President Obama has proposed deep cuts in this lifeline program. In the current federal fiscal year, the LIHEAP program is spending $5.1 billion nationwide. In fiscal 2012, beginning Oct. 1, the total would be $2.5 billion. That would roll the program’s funding back to 2008 levels.
Last year, Maine received $58 million in LIHEAP funds, but it looks as if we will be getting just $26 million this year. That works out to be a 55 percent reduction. The consequences of these draconian cuts could be profound for low-income residents. They may be forced to choose between fuel, food and medications; in some cases, it could become a matter of life or death.
The Bangor Daily News, in an Aug. 23 editorial, said Obama’s planned reduction “implies a moral bankruptcy on the part of the Administration.” It could be, the editors wrote, that the president doesn’t even understand LIHEAP. It could also be that “he is unable to appropriately weigh the fears of a poor, elderly woman in northern Maine facing an empty oil tank this winter against the political implications of erasing tax breaks for the wealthy man who spends winters in the Caribbean.”
LIHEAP helps less fortunate people pay for oil, gas, propane, firewood and pellets to make it through our brutal winters. It also provides financial support for weatherization and energy-related home repairs. The program may further assist someone during an energy crisis, such as a broken heating system or a warning from a utility provider that service may be cut off.
LIHEAP funds are distributed around the state by Community Action Programs. There are four related CAP offices in Aroostook County — in Presque Isle, Fort Kent, Houlton and Madawaska. The money flows from the federal government to the Maine State Housing Authority, then through the CAPs to the fuel vendors. The beneficiaries seldom handle the actual cash directly.
In 2010, LIHEAP provided roughly 70,000 low-income Maine households with financial assistance. More than half of the recipients were elderly, 32 percent were disabled and 13 percent were families with children under age 5. The average benefit for participating families was $844 — barely enough to fill one tank. This year, that amount will be even less.
Obviously, no one is happy about the LIHEAP situation. House Speaker Robert Nutting has called on the president to reconsider his decision. “We would have to drastically reduce the number of families getting help,” he said. “President Obama needs to keep in mind that his action could have dire consequences for very vulnerable people.” Maine’s congressional delegation also will work to reverse the curtailment.
Priorities are the core issue here. With a $14 trillion national debt, federal spending must be cut. Nevertheless, Washington hands out about $40 billion every year in foreign aid, oftentimes to countries that don’t need it or deserve it. Considering that much of this foreign aid is squandered or stolen why not cut back and use the money to help Americans? We’re also told that the waste and fraud in Medicare runs from $80 billion to $120 billion every year. Why not go all out to combat that fraud to help preserve funds for LIHEAP?
Instead, when low-income citizens need extra money to survive a Maine winter, the president says “No.” Adding insult to injury, his policies are at least partly responsible for these high oil prices. He needs to reverse his position and give top priority to the safety and security of American citizens.
