LIHEAP debate to continue Congressional delegation girds for new battle over program

AUGUSTA – The memory of last winter’s frigid temperatures may have faded for most Mainers, but not for the members of the state’s congressional delegation, who are preparing to fight for more federal heating assistance.

As the summer heat begins enveloping the nation’s capital, congressional committees are gearing up for budget debates that will involve, among other items, funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

“Regrettably, there has just never been an acknowledgment by some of the value of this program,” Sen. Olympia Snowe said. “Unfortunately, there is so much rhetorical bombast that has characterized this program in the past that it is very difficult to separate fact from fiction.”

Snowe, who was in the House when LIHEAP was created in 1982, said it has been a battle to fund the program every budget year under presidents of both parties.

Rep. Tom Allen said President Bush not only has tried to reduce funding for the program, he has proposed eliminating LIHEAP altogether. Allen said every year there has been a bipartisan effort from northern states to provide adequate funding for the program.

“The one consistent thing is that the administration tries to reduce all domestic spending it possibly can,” he said. “They don’t really believe in government helping people the way I do and most people in Maine do.”

Federal appropriations for LIHEAP totaled about $600 million in the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30. Of that amount, Maine received a total of $47 million. State legislators appropriated another $5 million in state funds and Maine received a $5 million contribution from Chevron, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company.

Regular assistance benefits averaging $675 were paid to 47,000 households in Maine and 4,000 households received emergency assistance averaging $260.

While none of Maine’s four congressional delegation members is directly involved in committee discussion this summer, each is intently monitoring the situation and attempting to persuade those on the appropriate panels of the need for additional funding for the program.

Allen explained that while budget talks are under way at the committee level this summer, final appropriations for LIHEAP likely won’t be set by Congress until next winter.

“I expect we will be back after the elections,” Allen said. “We are meeting so few days I don’t see how we can complete action on the appropriations bills before then.”

Sen. Susan Collins would like to invite some of the lawmakers who oppose the program to visit her hometown of Caribou in January. She said the cold weather would be a most persuasive argument for the program.

“This is a battle every single year,” she said. “It seems to get harder, not easier, which is strange given the high cost of home heating oil. One would think there would be more compassion, not less.”

Collins said she is frustrated that the issue seems to have broken along north-south lines. She said the need to stay warm in a cold Maine winter is just as important as helping the victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Rep. Michael Michaud said for many of his constituents, LIHEAP has been a lifesaver. He said there needs to be an increase in funding for the program and the weatherization program needs to be expanded as part of a cohesive national energy policy.

Last year $5.5 million of the state’s LIHEAP funds went for weatherization work on 700 homes. In addition, just over 1,000 homes got more efficient heating systems at an average cost of just over $3,500.

“We have to take care of the basic needs,” Michaud said. “We shouldn’t be giving tax breaks to the oil industry while LIHEAP isn’t funded properly.”

Snowe introduced legislation last fall that would have repealed tax breaks for the oil companies and used the money to provide a continuing funding source for LIHEAP. She said the measure was unsuccessful, but she still believes it would be a better way to handle the funding of the program.

“We know we can expect higher oil prices next winter – look what they were this winter,” she said. “We should be increasing the appropriations for this program.”

According to the state energy office, the average cost of home heating oil last winter was $2.37 a gallon. Two winters ago, the cost was $1.42 a gallon.

The entire delegation agrees the program needs a larger appropriation this year, but that it will be difficult to achieve.

After the committee-level battles this summer, there will be floor votes in both the House and Senate with a conference committee appointed to hash out the differences between the separate versions in the two chambers before final LIHEAP appropriations are determined.

“It may well be winter again before it’s resolved,” Collins said. “And that is discouraging, given the importance of this program.”