WASHINGTON, D.C. — The fiscal year 2018 spending bill legislators recently signed into law will contain $3.6 billion, an increase of $250 million, for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) and $248 million, or a $23 million increase, for the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP).
“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 U.S. Sen. Susan Collins. “I have long led bipartisan efforts to support federal funding for both LIHEAP, which provides critical heating assistance to low-income households, and the Weatherization Assistance Program, which lowers energy consumption and costs for the long-term.
“These programs remain important lifelines that help prevent vulnerable Mainers from having to choose between heating their home, paying their bills, or going without food or medicine,” she added.
A November 2017 letter which Collins co-wrote urged the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release funds for LIHEAP as quickly as possible, following which HHS released nearly $35 million for Maine LIHEAP programs.
