AUGUSTA – Mainers in need of additional heating assistance this winter should look to Augusta, not Washington say members of Maine’s congressional delegation. Even though the two U.S. senators have a promise from Senate leadership to consider $2 billion in emergency funding, there is no such promise by House leadership.

“You can’t count on extra money for LIHEAP [Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program] from Congress,” 1st District Rep. Tom Allen said Wednesday. The Democrat doubted the House leadership would even allow a vote on the issue.

“Nobody should be counting on it. LIHEAP is not on the radar screen for Republican leaders, and it has not been.”

2nd District Rep. Mike Michaud, also a Democrat, said House leadership already defeated attempts to add additional funds before the session ended Christmas week.

“It seems like this Congress is out of touch with working families,” he said. “With record heating prices this winter, the LIHEAP program should be fully funded. But despite the bipartisan work that many of us have put in, the leadership has refused.”

In the U.S. Senate, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins were part of a successful effort that got a commitment from Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., and Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., to have a vote on a measure providing an additional $2 billion for LIHEAP this year.

“This is a very high priority for me and I am surprised this has been such a battle to get this needed funding,” Collins said. “I am going to try hard, but I am not sure we will be successful. I was very optimistic last month that we would get additional funds and we were unsuccessful.”

Collins said the House will have to go along with the Senate in order to have additional funds available for the program. She said the House negotiators were not as generous as the Senate during deliberations last month on funding levels for the program despite what she said is a clear need caused by increased energy costs.

“I wish I could transport my colleagues in Congress to Aroostook County for a time and then I think they would be much more sympathetic to the need for additional funding,” she said.

Collins spent the holiday season with her family in Caribou and the area received a heavy snowfall and cold temperatures. She said there was an incident last month when two seniors from Presque Isle were hospitalized because they could not keep their homes warm.

“I am not going to give up on trying to get additional funding,” she said.

Snowe was traveling Wednesday and could not be reached for comment, but acknowledged last month during the negotiations for the separate LIHEAP measure that the battle for additional funds was far from over.

“I can assure you nothing is simple in Washington anymore,” she said. “We have the agreement of [Senate] leadership for the separate vote, but then we have to get the House to go along.”

Allen said the House is not scheduled to reconvene until Jan. 31 with the first order of business several bills that would provide further tax cuts as well as measures that would further reduce federal spending.

“The agenda is clear,” he said. “House leaders have said all along that they want to make their tax cuts permanent and they want additional reductions in programs like college tuition assistance.”

Michaud agreed. He said while Maine’s delegation has worked “tirelessly” in a bipartisan effort to get additional funds for heating assistance, they have not been successful.

“It is shameful that at the same time that Congressional leaders refuse to provide additional funding for heating assistance for working people, they propose giant tax cuts for millionaires,” he said. “That is about as out of touch as you can get.”

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the additional LIHEAP funding after they consider the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito to the United States Supreme Court later this month.