WEEKLY SENATE UPDATE

By U.S. Senator Olympia J. Snowe

For the week of December 24 through December 31, 2004

KEEPING WARM THIS WINTER
While there is nothing anyone can do to change the cold temperatures in Maine in the winter months, we do have the power to help those most vulnerable to harsh weather and high energy prices. There is no doubt that the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is one of the most essential Federal programs available to residents of Maine and other cold-weather states. LIHEAP is crucial to the health and safety of the neediest Mainers, providing an important measure of security and comfort for millions of low-income American families, including tens of thousands of households in Maine. Without LIHEAP, many would be forced to cut their spending on necessities such as food and prescription drugs.

LIHEAP has an even more acute need this year, with high prices for heating oil in Maine and across the Northeast forcing families to spend a higher percentage of their income on heating their homes. Despite falling recently, heating oil prices are still expected to average 30 percent per gallon more than last year and currently stand at $1.91 per gallon.

With high home heating oil prices comes a correspondingly high number of households applying for assistance through LIHEAP. This situation is exacerbated by Maine’s dependence on home heating oil. Last winter, Maine’s LIHEAP program served 45,000 households. This year, that number may increase to 60,000 households.

We cannot turn our backs on these neediest households at a time when cold weather, high prices, and a struggling economy could add up to a particularly difficult winter. I have worked with my Senate colleagues and the Bush Administration to see that the LIHEAP program receives timely and adequate funding in the appropriations process. In April I joined a bipartisan group of 43 Senators in a letter to Senate appropriators requesting $3 billion in regular funding for fiscal year 2005, and an additional $3 billion in advance funding for fiscal year 2006. Concerned with the impending arrival of winter, I called on the Bush Administration this fall to support additional funding of LIHEAP. The Department of Health and Human Services acted quickly to release over $2.6 million in emergency funding for the State of Maine before the worst of our long, cold winter hits.

There are those in Congress who want to limit LIHEAP funding or wish to make adjustments to the formula that provides funding to cold-weather states to serve those communities that suffer through hot summers. For those who must brave harsh Maine winters with only the security of LIHEAP, they can not afford to lose any of the funding dollars. We need to increase funding for LIHEAP, not divide it up differently.

The fact is, LIHEAP is one of the most effective Federal assistance programs available and has consequently enjoyed sustained bipartisan support in both the House and Senate. LIHEAP and complimentary programs that address weatherization and conservation initiatives are all that stand between many disadvantaged families and the impossible choice between heating their homes and putting food on the table. For these families, LIHEAP is a matter of survival, and I am committed to continuing efforts to ensure that their needs are met.