WASHINGTON – Maine lawmakers are taking aim at efforts by President Bush to cut current and future spending on the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, something that now helps more than 40,000 needy households in the state pay their winter heating bills.

In his proposed budget for 2003, the president asks Congress to cut total LIHEAP spending by $300 million – about 24 percent – over this year’s spending. Such a cut would slash Maine’s share by more than $4 million from this year’s projected total of $22.7 million, according to the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, which represents states favoring strong commitment to the program.

The state’s congressional delegation is also calling upon the administration to immediately release an additional $300 million this year in approved supplemental spending for the program.

While the Bush administration maintains that unseasonably warm weather and cheaper fuel costs this year have lowered demands for heating assistance, Maine’s lawmakers say that their state is burdened with a greater need because of rising unemployment and a slowdown in the economy.

Hoping to work with the White House, Maine’s two Republican senators, Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, note that applications for heating assistance in the state have climbed by 4,500 this year.

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

The Maine State Housing Authority, which administers the program in Maine, projects a need to serve 48,000 households this year with a yearly LIHEAP payment averaging $338 – about $100 less than last year. Last month the state distributed heating assistance to 33,000 households but received a total of 42,000 applications.

“If the president released the supplemental money, we would get $3 million to $4 million in extra funding,” said Dan Simpson, spokesman for the housing authority. “That money would help us increase the average household payment by nearly $100 and take care of the additional households we are expecting.”

About 5 million low-income households nationwide now receive LIHEAP benefits, but the Bush administration is urging Congress to establish new ways to distribute the funds that would focus on income levels and energy costs throughout the country instead of those states with cold weather patterns. The idea is to give a hand to Southern states faced with higher energy costs during summer months when many rely on air conditioners.

The president’s proposal would mean a dramatic shift in money available for heating assistance because Mainers use less air conditioning, predicted Mark Wolfe, executive director for the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association. “The White House wants to expand cooling assistance, but cut the funding,” he said. “The only way they can do that is to cut money going to Maine and other cold-weather states.”

Assuming that Congress approved the requested $1.4 billion funding level for next year, the proposed formula would cut Maine’s allocation from $18.6 million to $5.1 million, Wolfe said. On the other hand, funding for Texas would go from $31 million to $124 million.

Administration officials were unavailable to respond to Wolfe’s estimates.

Concerned about the administration’s proposed LIHEAP cuts, Democratic Rep. John Baldacci of Maine also wrote to President Bush last week to protest the move.

“LIHEAP is too important for the health and security of Maine families to be cut,” he said. “Indeed, I would argue that funding should be increased.”

Baldacci also explained that if a new funding formula dropped consideration of weather patterns in Maine – which routinely experiences bitter winter weather – those most in need would be left out in the cold.