Congress is cool to Trump's proposal to end heating aid
Source: Associated Press
Congress is cool to Trump’s proposal to end heating aid
By DAVID SHARP
Today
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The summer air is sizzling as the Fourth of July approaches, yet 86-year-old Richard Perkins already worries about how he’s going to stay warm this winter.
President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, claiming it’s no longer necessary and rife with fraud. People needn’t worry about being left in the cold, he says, because utilities cannot cut off customers in the dead of winter.
But he is wrong on all counts.
The heating program provides a critical lifeline for people like Perkins, and officials close to the program don’t see any widespread fraud. Guidelines for winter shutoffs by utilities vary from state to state and don’t apply to heating oil, a key energy source in the brittle New England winter.
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Forty-three senators from mostly cold-weather states already signed a letter urging the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on the Appropriations Committee to ensure funding for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, known in many states by its acronym, LIHEAP (pronounced LY’-heep).
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Read more: https://apnews.com/7ccd3eb307dd4a4583ceaeae1fa87327/Congress-is-cool-to-Trump's-proposal-to-end-heating-aid
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