Vermont may see boost in heating aid

By Louis Porter, Vermont Press Bureau
September 27, 2008

MONTPELIER -- There is some good news out of Washington for Vermonters who face a struggle to pay their heating bills this winter.

The U.S. Senate is expected to join the U.S. House in approving roughly double the funding for the Low Income Heating Assistance Program (LIHEAP), perhaps as early as this weekend, to more than $5 billion.

LIHEAP is the federal program that helps Vermonters and others in cold weather states who can't pay for heating oil or other fuel to stay warm.

The LIHEAP funding, included in a continuing resolution appropriation bill to keep government operating, will result in an increase for Vermont to more than $30 million in federal heating money.

If the funding gets final approval it will be a significant and important victory for the state.

However, a doubling of the LIHEAP money only keeps poorer Vermonters where they were last year, because of increases in need and higher fuel costs, said U.S. Rep. Peter Welch.

The Senate version of the bill has more than 50 co-sponsors and is very likely to pass.

"This has been a long, long struggle," U.S. Sen. Bernard Sanders said.

The LIHEAP program in Vermont is designed to cover about 60 percent of heating costs for those who qualify ?Çö those who earn 125 percent of the federal poverty level or below. Last year it served 15,400 households in the state. This year that number is expected to jump to 17,000.

If approved by the U.S. Senate, the bill must still gain approval by President George Bush, who has opposed the measure in the past.

It will, however, be difficult for the president to veto the continuing resolution and the LIHEAP funding, members of Vermont's congressional delegation said, because of other events in Washington. Congress, at the president's request, is now trying to wrestle through a $700 billion bailout package to avert a financial collapse in the U.S. banking system.

"I don't know how the president, when on his watch the price of heating oil has nearly quadrupled, could say no to people in cold areas such as ours, to poor people or people who are working but barely making it, while he has hundreds of billions of dollars for Wall Street," Leahy said. "I think it will go through."

Welch agreed.

"How can the president veto keeping people warm this winter when he is asking for $700 billion to bail out Wall Street. I think that is tough for this president to do," Welch said.

The amount of LIHEAP funding has not just been a concern for those who need the help; it has also worried state budget writers, who have been adding some state money to the federal program to make sure those who need help get it. This year there is no money ?Çö so far ?Çö set aside for that purpose.

Gov. James Douglas applauded the U.S. House vote to increase LIHEAP earlier this week.

"The Northeast governors are all very grateful that the House has responded to our calls for full funding of LIHEAP," Douglas said in a statement. It is "an indication that they understand the critical importance of the LIHEAP program."

"It will make a real difference for many Vermonters. It will take a significant amount of pressure off the Vermont budget," Welch said.

Still, he said he is under no illusion that the increase in LIHEAP, even if it wins final approval, will solve the problem created by high heating prices.

"This is going to be tough," Welch said.

Contact Louis Porter at louis.porter@rutlandherald.com.