Shaheen leads NH delegation in applauding historic $60.7M in LIHEAP funding to help Granite Staters heat their homes
U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) led Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) and Representatives Annie Kuster (NH-02) and Chris Pappas (NH-01) in announcing that New Hampshire has received a record $60.7 million to help families afford home energy costs this fiscal year. This includes $35.5 million from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) through the American Rescue Plan – which Shaheen and Hassan pushed for during ARP negotiations – on top of the annual appropriation of $25.2 million for New Hampshire. The ARP funding more than doubled the state’s typical annual funding and marks the highest amount of LIHEAP funding New Hampshire has ever received to help families heat their homes.
“We are now in the thick of the winter season in New Hampshire, and helping Granite Staters stay warm and afford rising heating costs is critical. Particularly as we battle the economic fallout from the pandemic – every dollar counts for working families,” said Senator Shaheen. “During negotiations around the American Rescue Plan, I was adamant that relief include funding for LIHEAP to ensure families wouldn’t face an impossible decision between paying for heating and food or medicine. That’s why I’m so proud the Granite State has received historic LIHEAP funding from the American Rescue Plan. As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I’ll continue working to secure federal support to help our most vulnerable households stay warm this winter.”
“The federal funding that we secured is a relief for Granite State families. We are seeing the perfect storm of events right now with rising costs, low temperatures, and the Omicron variant — we can’t afford to leave any Granite State families out in the cold,” said Senator Hassan. “The New Hampshire delegation has been hard at work to increase Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program funds for our state and make sure that the administration quickly distributes this funding to help Granite Staters afford home heating costs and make cost-saving home energy repairs and improvements. I’ll continue to make sure that New Hampshire families are getting the help and support they need to get through this winter.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of so many Granite Staters – I’m pleased to see this expanded Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding from the American Rescue Plan coming to New Hampshire to help families stay warm this winter,” said Rep. Kuster. “No Granite Stater should have to choose between keeping their house heated or putting food on the table. I was proud to get these dollars over the finish line, and will continue working with the Biden administration to ensure no one is left behind.”
“No family should have to decide between keeping their heat on in the winter or being able to afford other essentials, and I’m pleased these American Rescue Plan funds will more than double the heating assistance available to Granite Staters this winter,” said Rep. Pappas. “LIHEAP brings critical funding directly to New Hampshire families to help pay for heating costs, weatherization, and other services to reduce the need for energy assistance, and I’ll keep fighting to ensure this support is available to all who need it.”
LIHEAP provides annual grants to states, tribes and territories to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households. The American Rescue Plan more than doubled LIHEAP funding nationally by adding $4.5 billion, bringing total funding to $8 billion – the largest appropriation in a single year since the program was established.
As a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Shaheen has prioritized ensuring Granite State families and seniors have access to heating and energy assistance. Shaheen has historically saved and boosted funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which former President Trump’s budget proposals repeatedly sought to eliminate. In addition to the $900 million in LIHEAP funds allocated through the CARES Act in 2020, Shaheen and Hassan worked to secure $4.5 billion for LIHEAP in the American Rescue Plan that was signed into law in March 2021 and provided $35,498,757 to New Hampshire. In October, Shaheen and Hassan sent a bipartisan letter that successfully pushed the Biden administration to swiftly release LIHEAP funding under the temporary government funding measure ahead of the winter season. HHS announced a total of $25,192,436 for the Granite State the following month, bringing total funding for the year to $60.7 million.
Hassan is working across the aisle to bring down energy costs for Granite Staters. Senators Hassan and Susan Collins (R-ME) introduced bipartisan legislation to help lower energy costs for families and reduce carbon emissions by expanding and extending a tax credit for energy efficient home upgrades. Key measures from the Senators’ bill were included in the bipartisan Clean Energy for America Act that recently passed the Senate Finance Committee and would help improve energy efficiency.