AGA Chairman Tom Skains spoke on Capitol Hill today alongside Members of Congress and activists to urge Congress to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) so that low-income Americans are not faced with the decision to “heat or eat.” LIHEAP, a program that has been woefully underfunded, assists disadvantaged Americans in paying their heating and cooling bills. Especially during this downturned economy, securing funds for this program is critical.
Last week AGA’s chairman Tom Skains spoke about the National Fuel Funds Network’s LIHEAP Action Day. There’s a lot of excitement at the AGA offices this morning because that day has arrived. Everyone dressed just a little more nicely than usual and you can sense a different smell in the air as we welcome these volunteers into our offices. The volunteers began flowing in early for a quick breakfast and briefing of the day’s events.
For those that don’t know, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides critical dollars to low-income Americans struggling to heat and cool their homes, a particularly daunting task in the face of an economic downturn. Approximately 200 nonprofits and utility representatives are gathering today on Capitol Hill to advocate for LIHEAP’s inclusion in the stimulus bill, as well as $5.1 billion for FY 2010. The timing couldn’t be more crucial as the Senate removed $1 billion in funding in their version of the Economic Recovery bill.
One of the things that really struck me is as I was grazing after the morning talk, I ran into David Fox, executive director of the National Low Income Energy Consortium, and he was saying something to the effect of, I don’t think many people stop to think how close they are to being in the position to need this type of assistance, especially in these economic times. That’s probably more accurate than most of us want to acknowledge.
