After one of the harshest winters in Vermont’s history, Representative Peter Welch (D-VT) has rallied a bipartisan coalition to ensure that LIHEAP receives enough funding to continue providing crucial support to families in need. Rep. Welch, joined by Reps. Peter King (R-NY), Lou Barletta (R-PA), and James McGovern (D-MA), has introduced HR 2194, the Energy Assistance for American Families Act of 2015, which would fund LIHEAP at $5.1 billion for the next five years.
Over the past 7 years, federal LIHEAP funding has been cut 30 percent, leaving low-income families, children, and seniors out in the cold. The bipartisan bill would provide a much needed annual increase of $1.71 billion to LIHEAP, enabling more struggling households to access this critical safety net program.
“Families should never have to choose between heating their homes and putting food on the table,” said Rep. Welch. “During brutal winter months, keeping the heat on is a necessity, not a luxury.”
The same bipartisan coalition sent a letter to the House Appropriation Committee with 142 of their colleagues requesting the committee fund LIHEAP for the fiscal year 2016. They will work to assemble the same broad bipartisan support for this legislation and advocate for its passage.
Last winter, while experiencing some of the coldest temperatures on record, Vermont received $18.9 million in federal LIHEAP funding, with the state contributing an additional $5 million. Over half of Vermont families who receive LIHEAP assistance are at or below the poverty level and ninety percent of LIHEAP households have at least one resident who is a child, elderly, or disabled.
Source: Welch 6.10.2015