WILTON — Western Maine Community Action will continue to take LIHEAP fuel assistance applications until July 15. For those households who pay for their own heat, the benefit can cover any unpaid deliveries made after Oct. 1, 2017, or can be used as a credit for the upcoming heating season. Households can apply even if […]
LIHEAP
Donald Trump wants to cut heating oil assistance to the poor
PORTLAND (AP) — The Trump administration is once again calling for the complete elimination of a heating assistance program that helps to keep the homes of low-income families warm. And once again, program supporters are vowing to fight it. The administration is using the same arguments from a year ago when it tried to abolish […]
Trump once again wants to cut energy assistance to the poor
PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Trump administration is once again calling for the complete elimination of a heating assistance program that helps to keep the homes of low-income families warm. And once again, program supporters are vowing to fight it. The administration is using the same arguments from a year ago when it tried to […]
Trump budget would kill funds for many programs in Maine
President Trump released a proposed budget for the next fiscal year Monday that, if enacted, would have serious consequences across Maine. The sweeping plan again proposes to eliminate the programs that provide heating oil to low-income Mainers, legal aid to indigent citizens, and grants to towns and cities to rehabilitate housing, infrastructure, and services. It […]
Maine's senators push Trump to cough up cash for heating assistance
After turning back President Donald Trump’s bid to eliminate heating assistance for low-income families, Maine’s two senators are calling on the administration to release funding for the program as quickly as possible. “Access to affordable home energy is a matter of health and safety for many low-income households, children, and seniors in Maine,” Republican U.S. […]
Advocates urge Congress to preserve heating assistance program
AUGUSTA (AP) — More than 30 attorneys general and state consumer advocate agencies are urging Congress to reject plans by the administration of President Donald Trump to eliminate the federal heating assistance program, including northern New England representatives. The program distributes $3.4 billion to about 6 million households. The representatives say the Low Income Home […]
Calling all elderly: LIHEAP wants you
LEWISTON — Heating assistance officials say too few Maine seniors are getting heating help because they aren’t asking for it. And they want seniors to ask for that help. The Low Income Heating Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, is a federal program that helps families pay for heat. The Maine State Housing Authority receives the federal funding […]
Food stamp changes to have slight effect on Maine LIHEAP
WASHINGTON — Cuts to the nation’s food stamp program enacted this year are only affecting four states, far from the sweeping overhaul that Republicans had pushed, an Associated Press review has found. As a result, it’s unclear whether the law will realize the estimated $8.6 billion in savings over 10 years that the GOP had […]
Heating assistance funds in high demand as Mainers struggle through a cold winter
HANCOCK — When asked how much time she spends thinking about staying warm, Heidi Halpin, 46, laughed. “Pretty much all day,” she said, seated in her living room next to her mother, Mary Jo Halpin, 66. The pair live together in Hancock. They both have diabetes and Heidi also has multiple sclerosis, so neither can […]
New England governors press Congress on heating oil program
BOSTON (AP) — The governors of all six New England states have signed a letter urging Congress to support a federal program aimed at helping lower-income families and seniors cover their home heating costs. The governors are asking Congress to approve $3.6 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which they describe as “a […]