Release of Fuel Assistance Funds

Just before Christmas the Bush administration announced the release of $100 million in additional emergency fuel assistance for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Senator Edward Kennedy responded on 12/23/04 with a press-release which is excerpted below.

This release of funds “is a welcome Christmas gift, such as it is, to low-income families in Massachusetts and across the country already struggling to cope with soaring heating bills as winter begins.

In fact, with today's announcement, the Administration turns out to be two-third Scrooge and one-third Santa. Forty-six Senators signed a bipartisan letter to the President on December 21, the first day of winter, urging him to release the full $300 million emergency appropriation.

Even that figure was a compromise by Congress, since $460 million in emergency funds would be needed just to pay the same share of home heating costs for the same number of low-income households this winter as last winter. “

The release of an additional $5.6 million in emergency funds for Massachusetts was announced on January 31, 2005. Individuals interested in applying for heating assistance can visit www.acf.dhhs.gov/programs/liheap/directry.htm to locate the state or tribal office that administers the program in their community.

-Press Release “Senator Edward M. Kennedy Statement on the Release of LIHEAP Funds” 12/23/04, Boston Globe 2/1/05 “ US adds $5.6m for heating assistance”.

01/2005