The TelegraphNASHUA – A federal program that helps more than 1,000 low-income families in New Hampshire pay energy bills is facing a $1.6 million reduction because of the budget-cutting sequester, after five years of reductions that have already cut its funding in half.
U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H., and officials for the state and Southern New Hampshire Services in Nashua lamented these cuts during a public forum Monday. Kuster called on her Congressional colleagues to restore the heating assistance money, known as LIHEAP (Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program).
“Our Fuel Assistance Program provides critical benefits to those who need them most,” said Celeste Lovett, fuel assistance program manager at the New Hampshire Office of Energy Planning, in a press release about the event. “Sequester cuts in program year 2013 cut benefits for New Hampshire families by $1.7 million, and that reduction is on top of reduced assistance in recent years.”
New Hampshire’s LIHEAP funding has fallen every year since 2008, according to information released at the event, from $51 million in 2008-09 to $24.3 million last winter.
Similar cuts have happened nationwide.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released $2.93 billion in LIHEAP funding on Nov. 4.
That money came from the continuing resolution being used to fund the federal government through Jan. 15, 2014, but LIHEAP received $5.1 billion in 2010.
The federal Energy Information Administration reported this year that it expects average home heating costs this winter to hit $977, up 6 percent from a year ago, while the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association estimates average LIHEAP grants could fall to about $400.
“LIHEAP helps some of our state’s most vulnerable children, seniors, and families make it through the winter,” Kuster said. “It’s unconscionable to cut this vital program for Granite Staters who could go cold without it.”
Last month a dozen governors, including New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan and the governors of Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont, signed a letter urging Congress to restore LIHEAP funding.
Also appearing at the forum Monday were Gale Hennessey, executive director of Southern New Hampshire Services; Tracy Desmarais, energy and crisis coordinator at SNHS; and Jeanne Agri, child development director at SNHS.
I’m sure our “beloved” and “humanitarian” “President” will invite all those poor folk from New Hampshire to go with him on his next vacation to Hawaii.
Was wondering if illegal aliens and people from evil nations can get the utilities monies still (think of it as ‘foreign aid’ & hurting Americans).