LITTLE HEAT, LESS LIGHT

Back in December, Maine Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins said they had cut an uncomfortable deal. They would vote for cloture on a Defense appropriations bill that included drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. In return, they would get, right after the Senate voted on the Samuel Alito nomination, a vote for $2 billion in increased funding for home heating. Justice Alito is now, of course, on the court, but the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program is still waiting for that vote.

The senators have tried a half dozen ways to get one, but they have yet to be successful. Next up, perhaps by Tuesday, Feb. 28, is an amendment to a flood-insurance bill that would shift LIHEAP funding from fiscal year ’07 to the current year and allow $1 billion to be spent at the president’s discretion this winter.

That idea is being held up by fiscal conservatives, notably Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma. But even that funding is not a great deal because it would set up the system for crisis next year, when, according to news reports, the president’s budget would cut weatherization programs by nearly one-third.

Inaction in the Senate is met with high oil prices in Maine. The mild winter has helped enormously, so much so that the Department of Energy has lowered its recent price forecast. And more help came from Maine lawmakers, who acted swiftly with $5 million in added funding, and from Venezuela, which contributed similarly. But prices are much higher this year and Maine is a long way from spring.

The leader with whom Maine’s senators made that cloture-vote deal, Sen. Bill Frist, hasn’t been able to persuade members of his caucus to help him keep his word. So in response last week, Sen. Snowe put a hold on a bill to extend the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s authority to borrow. That was to get the attention of some southern state senators who may not have understood the necessity of the LIHEAP funding.

The earliest Maine may see any added federal money likely is late March, though it would still be appreciated and useful for paying arrearages on fuel bills or pre-buying at a discount for next year. But the deal struck in December never included an announcement that the money was simply a shift of one fiscal year to the next. The $1 billion would help many cold-weather states, but it must be additional money.

The White House could help. It has said it would support the $1 billion in spending to be distributed at the president’s discretion, rather than through a formula. It could get the legislation moving by urging the Senate and the Senate-House conference to quickly pass the LIHEAP funding.

The current mutual death grip of holds on LIHEAP and FEMA authority are hurting people in real need of federal help. This is a debate that never should have broken down so badly.