Golden and Garbarino Introduce Bill to Help Struggling Families Heat Their Homes this Winter

Press Release

Congressmen Jared Golden (ME-02) and Andrew Garbarino (NY-02) this week introduced the Home Heating Emergency Funding Act of 2022. The bipartisan legislation would provide $4 billion in emergency funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to help struggling families across the country afford to heat their homes this winter amidst rising fuel costs. Golden also joined with Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) this week to press congressional appropriations leaders to make emergency supplemental funding available for LIHEAP.

The bill would appropriate approximately $40 million in funding for Maine families, roughly doubling the assistance that is allocated to the state under the LIHEAP formula. The emergency funding is expected to allow MaineHousing to assist roughly 40,000 families purchase an average 1.5 tanks of oil this winter amidst record heating oil prices. Without the emergency funding, the benefit available to the average family would shrink significantly.

"Even if sky-high heating oil prices come down between now and November, it's going to be a tough winter for many families in Maine," said Congressman Golden. "While I've been pushing for months for the U.S. to expand domestic oil and gas production and open pipelines to increase energy supply and lower prices, these measures are unlikely to impact Mainers filling their oil tanks this winter. That's why the bipartisan bill I'm introducing today is so important. Our bill will respond to this crisis by temporarily doubling the funding that goes to LIHEAP, the program that helps families with their heating bills. For thousands of Maine residents this funding could be a crucial lifeline to get them through the winter this year."

"Long Islanders and Americans across the country are dealing with astronomical energy prices on top of rising costs for basic necessities across the board," said Rep. Garbarino. "This legislation will provide much needed relief to some of the most vulnerable families in our community and help ensure they are able to heat their homes this winter."

"MaineHousing is grateful for this bipartisan effort in Congress and the leadership being shown by Congressman Golden. This critical funding boost will help offset the crushing vise skyrocketing oil prices have placed on the budgets of our state's most vulnerable households," said MaineHousing Director Daniel Brennan. "This funding will allow us to provide a meaningful and more robust heating benefit and will truly help to keep thousands of Maine kids, the disabled and our oldest residents warm in the coming winter."

Golden has been working to lower oil and gas prices since fall 2021 and has consistently been one of the leading voices in Congress pushing back against the administration and calling on the White House to take more aggressive action to increase domestic energy production. He has pressed the administration to adopt his bipartisan, multi-pronged proposal to boost energy production and boost supply, called for the suspension of the federal gas tax to help consumers save at the pump, and advocated for opening or expediting approval pipelines like Keystone, Dakota Access, and Mountain Valley.

Source