WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King have announced that Maine will receive $34,847,767 in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) assistance. The funding from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) will help low-income households and seniors with their energy bills.
“The long, cold Maine winter can present low-income families and seniors with the impossible choice between paying for heat and paying for other necessities like food or medicine,” said Collins and King in a joint statement. “Thanks to the LIHEAP program, Mainers across our state will be able to keep their homes warm without having to make that choice. This important investment will support some of our most vulnerable citizens this winter.”
Earlier this month, Sens. Collins and Jack Reed (D-RI) led a bipartisan letter also signed by Sen. King to HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell, urging her to release LIHEAP funds without delay and at as high a level as possible. Preserving LIHEAP funding has been a continued priority for the senators, both of whom have worked together to oppose recent attempts to scale back the funding appropriated for this critical program.
