WASHINGTON, DC -- With several states running out of money to help low-income residents pay their home heating bills, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), today sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services requesting that they include $5.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the fiscal year 2008 budget. Reed and Collins, Co-Chairs of the Northeast-Midwest Coalition, were joined by 47 of their Senate colleagues in making the request. LIHEAP is a federal block grant program that provides states with annual funding to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households. Each year, over 5.5 million low-income families nationwide rely on LIHEAP to assist with the costs of heating and/or cooling their homes. "With energy prices on the rise, it is becoming increasingly difficult for many families to pay their utility bills," said Senator Reed. "Unless President Bush and Congress work together to increase funding for LIHEAP, many states will be forced to either cut funding for seniors and low-income families or turn away people in need. We must act now to increase federal assistance for LIHEAP and provide more consumers with some relief." "LIHEAP is critical to so many families in Maine and throughout the nation," said Senator Collins. "No family should ever be forced to choose between heating their home and putting food on their table for their children. No senior citizen should have to decide between buying life-saving prescriptions and paying utility bills. That is why Senator Reed and I have long fought to ensure that LIHEAP funds are available to help needy families." The full text of the letter is below: Dear Chairman Harkin and Ranking Member Specter: We thank you for your support in the FY2007 Supplemental Appropriations Act for increased funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). We share your strong support for this program and respectfully request an appropriation of $5.1 billion to fund it in FY2008. For many low-income families, disabled individuals, and senior citizens living on fixed incomes, home energy costs are unaffordable. These families often carry a higher energy burden than most Americansspending up to 17 percent of their income on home energy bills. Each year, this burden grows as natural gas, heating oil, propane, and electricity prices continue to increase. Providing $5.1 billion for LIHEAP will help states reach a greater percentage of LIHEAP eligible households, and as a result, create an effective and broad safety net for those people least able to pay their utility bills. In addition to providing assistance with home energy bills, LIHEAP also helps low-income homeowners weatherize their homes to save energy and lower their energy burden. Weatherization, on average, reduces heating bills by 31 percent and overall energy bills by $200 to $250 per year. Energy is a basic need, and without LIHEAP assistance, low-income families and senior citizens face the impossible choice between paying their home energy bills or affording other basic necessities such as prescription drugs, housing, and food. In 2005, the National Energy Assistance Directors Association (NEADA) surveyed over 2,000 LIHEAP recipients on the choices made by households when faced with high-energy bills. The survey found that in the last five years: · 44% skipped paying or paid less than their entire home energy bill in the past year. (Households with children or households with income below 50% of the poverty level were more likely to do so.);· 47% went without medical or dental care due to unaffordable energy bills in the past five years;· 32% did not fill their prescriptions or took less than their full dose of a prescribed medicine due to energy bills in the past five years; and· 16% became ill in the past five years because their home was too cold. In addition to our request for funding in FY2008, we also request $5.1 billion in advanced funding for LIHEAP in FY2009. Advanced funding enables states to pre-purchase fuel and start planning for the winter heating season in spring and early summer as well as plan for a summer cooling program. Advanced LIHEAP funding allows states to plan more efficiently and improveprogram management, and therefore, he more economical with limited federal resources. It also ensures that states provide timely assistance to low-income families who cannot afford to wait. Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to working with you to ensure that working families, seniors, and disabled individuals have the resources necessary to provide for their basic energy needs. Thank you for your consideration of our request.