Federal funding cuts put the future of Connecticut’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) at risk. But the state recently received a financial boost.
LIHEAP is a federal program administered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It provides financial assistance for residents struggling to pay their heating or home energy bills.
However, all funding for LIHEAP has been eliminated from Pres. Donald Trump’s proposed budget for next fiscal year, which begins in July. The $9.5 million Connecticut recently received was already allocated to the program.
“The affordability crisis has worsened for families as already increasing energy costs skyrocket due to President Trump’s war in Iran,” Rep. Rosa DeLauro said. “After what has been a cold winter, I am glad that over $9.5 million in LIHEAP funding will reach Connecticut families in need.”
About 100,000 families in Connecticut, and roughly 6 million nationwide, rely on LIHEAP for energy assistance, according to DeLauro.
Connecticut’s congressional delegation said it will push back against Trump’s plans to eliminate LIHEAP.
“That the Trump Administration would propose eliminating LIHEAP wholesale — a nationwide program which has an annual cost equivalent to just the first two days of the President's war with Iran — is unconscionable,” Rep. Jim Himes said.
TheTrump administration eliminated all federal employees in charge of running the LIHEAP program last year. That left local social service providers trying to pick up the slack.
For Connecticut, the federal workers behind LIHEAP oversaw reports of Connecticut’s need and use of LIHEAP funds and approved payments for residents.
In all this fiscal year, Connecticut received about $90 million for LIHEAP, but recent disbursements were delayed due to the federal government shutdown late last year.
In Connecticut, the Department of Social Services (DSS) is in charge of administering the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program (CEAP), which is Connecticut’s LIHEAP program.
"LIHEAP helped thousands of families weather this brutal winter and I'm proud to have stood with the Connecticut delegation in securing this federal funding,” Himes said. “We will do everything in our power to prevent this Administration from, quite literally, leaving millions of Americans out in the cold.”
