who cares about the poor
Heating aid slashed; N.E. faces burden
US spending was tied to Alaska drilling
By Susan Milligan and Rick Klein, Globe Staff | December 23, 2005
WASHINGTON -- The federal program to help poor families heat their homes got cut to less than half the amount originally promised by Congress, because of a flurry of late-night maneuvers on Wednesday that could leave tens of thousands of New England families struggling with skyrocketing heating bills this winter.
Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts Congress authorized $5.1 billion earlier this year for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, which provides grants to needy residents to ease heating and cooling costs. But in last-minute deals to complete spending bills in the waning hours of the Senate's 2005 session, the program was slashed to $2.16 billion for the 2006 fiscal year that began in October -- $20 million less than the amount allocated for the 2005 fiscal year and far less than the minimum $4.5 billion energy assistance officials say they need to keep poor families warm this winter.