{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-colleagues-urge-the-release-of-untapped-liheap-funding", "Golden, colleagues urge the release of untapped LIHEAP funding", "2024-10-31", "2024", "2024-10", "Democrat", "House", "ME", "Jared F. Golden", "G000592", "golden.house.gov", "golden", "https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON \u2014 Congressman Jared Golden (ME-02) yesterday joined a bipartisan group of House members requesting that U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra release the maximum dispersal of Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding made available from the recent government funding package.\n\nGolden joined 15 House colleagues in sending a letter to the secretary today, as agencies in Maine are ringing alarm bells about a lack of adequate LIHEAP funds\n\n\u201cTo prevent a lapse in eligible families\u2019 ability to afford their home energy bills this fall, we urge you to immediately release the highest possible amount of LIHEAP funding made available by the Continuing Resolution,\u201d the lawmakers wrote. \u201cIt is vital to ensure our seniors and low-income families are provided sufficient resources as temperatures cool in the months ahead.\u201d\n\nCongress passed a temporary spending deal in September to delay a possible government shutdown through December 20. While this agreement included LIHEAP funding at the annualized rate of over $4 billion, none of that money has been dispersed for LIHEAP recipients to date.\n\n\u201cAs temperatures dip below freezing at night, our agency is inundated with calls from area residents in fuel emergencies. In Aroostook County alone, the number of households qualifying for the Federal Home Energy Assistance Program has increased by 60 percent in five years,\u201dJason Parent, executive director and CEO of the Aroostook County Action Program said.\u201cAt the same time the average household benefit has decreased by nearly $200. This program is a critical lifeline for so many of our vulnerable seniors and families with children in Maine.\u201d\n\n\u201cUnfortunately, the demand for this program is more than we can fund. That means more people will have a benefit, but it is going to be a smaller benefit. With higher heating costs, higher grocery and gas costs, that means real people have less money to live,\u201d Megan Hannan, executive director of the Maine Community Action Partnership said. \u201cOur goal is to serve as many households as possible, and to make the benefits worth the work to receive it. We hope Congress understands that people are at risk without enough money to keep their homes warm.\u201d\n\nNationwide, an estimated 5 million households receive assistance with heating and cooling costs through LIHEAP, including over 45,000 Maine households. LIHEAP is administered by states and accessed through local Community Action Agencies. Eligibility for LIHEAP is based on income, family size, and the availability of resources. More information on the LIHEAP application process can be found here.\n\nGolden has successfully led several efforts to increase Mainers\u2019 access to LIHEAP, including last Congress when he and Senator Collins secured a total of $6.1 billion for the program in FY 2023. Last September, he and the rest of Maine\u2019s Congressional Delegation secured an additional $38 million for Mainers in FY 2024, including $1.4 million for Maine\u2019s tribes.\n\nFull text of Golden\u2019s letter can be found here, and is included below in full:\n\n+++\n\nOctober 30, 2024\n\nThe Honorable Xavier Becerra\n\nSecretary\n\nU.S. Department of Health and Human Services\n\n330 C Street, SW\n\nWashington, D.C. 20416\n\nDear Secretary Becerra:\n\nWe write to urge the immediate release of the highest possible amount of Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding available under the September 2024 Continuing Resolution (PL 118-83).\n\nAs you well know, LIHEAP helps households unable to afford to heat their homes in the winter and cool their homes in the summer, providing assistance to at-risk seniors and families. In Fiscal Year 2023 (FY23), more than five million households across the country relied on critical heating assistance from the LIHEAP program. For LIHEAP recipients, this funding is a lifeline, helping prevent them from having to make an impossible choice between staying warm and putting food on the table or affording their medications.\n\nWith the winter months rapidly approaching, releasing the highest amount of funding from the recent government funding package is critically needed to address the growing number of households unable to pay their energy bills. Continued escalation in the Middle East and Russia\u2019s ongoing war in Ukraine have increased uncertainty in the energy market and raised concerns about potential spikes in energy prices. These shifts disproportionately harm those who already struggle to heat their homes and underscore the need for robust funding for LIHEAP. Historically, LIHEAP has been an underfunded and oversubscribed program. This remained true in FY23, with only around 15 percent of qualifying households nationwide receiving heating assistance through the program.\n\nTo prevent a lapse in eligible families\u2019 ability to afford their home energy bills this fall, we urge you to immediately release the highest possible amount of LIHEAP funding made available by the Continuing Resolution. It is vital to ensure our seniors and low-income families are provided sufficient resources as temperatures cool in the months ahead.\n\nThank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to working with you further on this crucial program.\n\nSincerely,\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T21:57:20Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://golden.house.gov/media/press-releases/golden-colleagues-urge-the-release-of-untapped-liheap-funding"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8363670203834772, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}