WASHINGTON – U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins are asking President Bush to release $300 million in funding under the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. In a letter to the president, Snowe and Collins said the funding is necessary to meet high heating costs in the Northeast last winter, as well as this summer’s cooling bills in other regions.

“For many low-income families, LIHEAP assistance can make the difference in the family budget between heating and eating. The program is a vital protection for these families, and we believe release of assistance is crucial at this time,” Snowe and Collins said in a joint statement.

“LIHEAP is the primary federal program available to help needy households pay their home energy bills. In recent years, the need for LIHEAP assistance has grown rapidly. Five million households received assistance last winter, an increase of 1.1 million,” the senators said in their letter. “States in the Northeast-Midwest region lack sufficient resources to help households pay for past bills resulting from high home energy prices last winter, and they also urgently need funds to help poor families pay for cooling bills and avoid shutoffs of electricity during the summer’s oppressive heat and humidity.”

A supplemental spending bill makes available $300 million in contingency funds to assist states and needy citizens to meet energy needs, and the senators noted that action is urgently needed to assist low-income families who need help.

Members of the Senate Northeast-Midwest Coalition, led by Sens. Jack Reed, D-R.I., and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., joined Snowe and Collins in signing the letter to Bush.