Fuel Assistance Cut In Obama Budget Proposal

 

The Obama administration proposed a $2.5 billion cut to home heating fuel assistance for low-income households, which would reduce the aid to low-income residents by half for fuel this winter.

This winter, Massachusetts has received $181.7 million in energy funding from the US government and anticipates that more than 216,000 individuals and families will qualify for help this year, up from the 206,000 households served last year, according to the US Department of Housing and Community Development.

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced an additional $1.6 billion in home energy assistance block grant funds on Jan. 11, and the Obama administration tapped a contingency fund two weeks later for an additional $200 million in emergency aid. That brought funding available for fiscal 2011 to $4.14 billion.

With freezing temperatures, Bay State politicians urged the Obama administration to abandon its plan to slash federal home heating fuel assistance, known as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

US Senator John F. Kerry wrote a letter to the Obama administration Wednesday urging the administration to preserve home energy funding at its fiscal 2010 level of $5.1 billion.

-Adapted from “Brown opposes US cuts to heat aid”, by Matt Murphy, State House News Service, February 11, 2011, at http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/02/11/brown_opposes__us_cuts_to_heat_aid/, retrieved 2/11/11.

 

 

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