Vermont on guard against federal cuts to low-income help
MILTON - Todd Alexander hopes this will be the last winter he has to battle drafts and a dying furnace.
Alexander, a disabled U.S. Coast Guard veteran who receives public assistance to pay his kerosene fuel bills, has been waiting about three years for a federal and state weatherization program to add insulation to his 1980s Milton mobile home. He expects to wait another four or five months. In the meantime he keeps an extra pair of shoes to wear while drinking coffee in the kitchen on cold winter mornings.
"It's going to be night and day," Alexander said, anticipating upgrades that he predicts could save as many as 100 gallons of kerosene each year and replace parts of his furnace.
Alexander is watching warily as President Donald Trump's budget proposes to eliminate the U.S. Department of Energy weatherization program, which contributes about $1.2 million to Vermont's $11.8 million weatherization fund. The bulk of weatherization funding in Vermont comes from a state fuel and electricity tax.
Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/29/vt-guard-against-federal-cuts-low-income-liheap-weatherization/99594912/
