WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Jack Reed (D-RI), senior members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, are leading a bipartisan coalition of senators in urging the leaders of two Appropriations subcommittees to provide robust funding in Fiscal Year (FY) 2016 for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP), and the State Energy Program (SEP).

In a letter sent today, Senators Collins, Reed, and 36 of their colleagues are urging the leaders of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies to fund LIHEAP at no less than $4.7 billion in FY 2016.

“LIHEAP is the main federal program that helps low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, providing vital assistance during both the cold winter and hot summer months,” the letter reads.  “LIHEAP assistance 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.  Access to affordable home energy is a matter of health and safety for many low-income households, children, and seniors.”

Preserving LIHEAP funding is a perennial bipartisan priority for Collins and Reed, and together they have worked to repel attempts in recent years to undercut this critical program.  Just last night, Reed and Collins were successful in amending the Senate Budget Resolution to further highlight the importance of energy efficiency, including weatherization assistance, and the LIHEAP program.

In a second letter sent to the leaders of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Senators Collins, Reed, and 34 of their colleagues are urging that WAP and SEP be funded at $230 million and $70 million, respectively, in FY 2016.

“The Weatherization Assistance Program has helped low-income families, seniors, and individuals with disabilities make lasting and cost-effective energy efficiency improvements to their homes and reduce the burden of high energy prices for more than three decades,” the letter reads.  “The State Energy Program also has a history of success working across all sectors of the economy and supporting cost-effective energy efficiency improvements.”

To date, more than 7.3 million homes have been weatherized through WAP, providing as much as $450 in savings on a household’s annual energy bill.

The full text of the letters are attached (link at right side of your screen).

-end-