Cutting federal heating assistance would hurt thousands of Mainers

Yahoo

2 days ago

Jun. 2—Despite summer's approach, many residents of Maine's northernmost county still have their heat on — those who can afford the energy, at least.
"It was in the high 30s on June 1. So people are warming their homes now," said Jason Parent, executive director of the Aroostook County Action Program, which provides vulnerable people with utility bill credits and, rarely, direct checks, through the national Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.
For decades, the program — also known as LIHEAP — has provided critical financial assistance for households struggling to afford heat in the winter or air conditioning in the summer. About 45,000 households in Maine, including about 7,500 in Aroostook County, rely on LIHEAP to make it through the winter. But as Congress attempts to draft a fiscal year 2026 budget that aligns with President Donald Trump's agenda, the program's fate is uncertain.
Trump has proposed wholly eliminating LIHEAP and a number of other support programs, weeks after his administration slashed federal staff responsible for administering the program. Last month, the House of Representatives passed its budget bill, which appears not to allocate funding for LIHEAP. The bill landed in the Senate this week.
"The progression has clearly been in the direction of a seismic shift if not the elimination of the program altogether," Parent said in a phone interview Monday. "The thought of the program not existing at all, quite frankly, literally has me fearing that people will freeze to death in their homes."
Dan Brennan, director of MaineHousing, said eliminating LIHEAP would be devastating to already vulnerable residents. The average income of a LIHEAP recipient is about $13,000 per year, he said.
"We're talking people, households that make very little money to begin with and are having trouble making ends meet," Brennan said. MaineHousing administers the program within Maine.
But Brennan was more optimistic about the program's fate at the federal level, noting its historic bipartisan backing and vocal support from the entire Maine delegation. He added that Trump unsuccessfully suggested eliminating LIHEAP in the 2018 and 2019 budget proposals during his first term.
"I would be very surprised if both houses of congress decided not to fund this program. I just don't see that happening," he said. But "I'm anticipating they're not going to increase it very much, if at all."
PREVIOUS FUNDING
Maine has received about $41.6 million from the federal government for LIHEAP during the 2025 fiscal year — about 1% of the federal program's total cost — according to Sen. Susan Collins' office.
About $26 million of that has been allocated for Maine households, more than $22 million of which had been distributed to residents as of Monday, according to data provided by MaineHousing. The latter figure includes about $2.6 million in Emergency Crisis Intervention Program payments, which are reserved for households facing heating emergencies and in need of immediate help. The majority of LIHEAP funds are distributed for use over the entire heating season.
The rest of the LIHEAP funding goes to administrative costs and the four tribes that make up the Wabanaki Nations in Maine.
Though the program touches all 16 counties, rural portions of northern Maine tend to receive more than their southern counterparts.
Penobscot County residents have received just over $3.6 million this year, the most of any county, while those in Aroostook have seen more than $3.1 million, according to MaineHousing. Sagadahoc has so far received the least of any county, charting about $180,000 as of Tuesday. Cumberland and York have so far seen just under $1.4 million and nearly $1.8 million, respectively.
Statewide, the average LIHEAP benefit was $509 in 2024, though that figure varies widely depending on income, home size and heating system, MaineHousing spokesperson Scott Thistle said.
BUDGET HEADS TO SENATE
Reps. Jared Golden, D-2nd District, and Chellie Pingree, D-1st District, voted against the budget bill last month, criticizing its impact on LIHEAP among other complaints. The bill passed the House by just one vote and was supported only by Republicans.
It now heads to the Senate, where Republicans hold a razor-thin majority and tweaks are all but certain. Several Republicans have signaled that certain cuts, including to Medicaid and LIHEAP, go too far, or that the bill fails to bring down the national debt.
Both of Maine's senators have spoken about the importance of preserving LIHEAP.
In testimony before Congress last month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued that the Trump administration's overall energy policy would bring the cost of heating down enough to eliminate any need for assistance, rendering the program little more than "another subsidy of the fossil fuel industry," he said.
But when pressed by Collins, who chairs the Appropriations Committee, Kennedy said he would commit to spending any LIHEAP funding appropriated by congress for fiscal year 2026.
A spokesperson for Collins said that she will continue supporting LIHEAP and will "work to ensure that households in Maine and throughout the country can afford to heat their homes."
A spokesperson for Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, referred questions about the program to an April letter King and Collins signed alongside nearly a dozen other senators, urging Kennedy to reverse the staff cuts.
"It is an indispensable lifeline, helping to ensure that recipients do not have to choose between paying their energy bills and affording other necessities like food and medicine," the senators wrote.
Gov. Janet Mills encouraged Congress to "protect and preserve" the program in a written statement Monday.
Brennan, director of MaineHousing, said Collins' role on the Appropriations Committee was a particularly good sign for LIHEAP's fate.
"It is just a matter now of watching the House and the Senate and what they decide to fund the program at," Brennan said. "In the meantime, we are moving ahead and preparing as if there will be a program."
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