As Extreme Winter Weather Covers Major Portions of the United States, Shaheen Meets with NH Officials to Discuss Importance of LIHEAP

Dover, NH – January 7, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — As major sections of the United States including New Hampshire experience extreme winter weather conditions, U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) met with officials from the New Hampshire Office of Energy and Planning and New Hampshire Community Action Programs to highlight the importance of funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP helps seniors and low income households with home heating costs.

“With temperatures around the country reaching well below zero home heating assistance is more important than ever,” Shaheen said. “LIHEAP is a critical program for New Hampshire seniors and low income families and as a result I’m going to keep working to boost the program’s funding so that Granite Staters get the assistance they need.”

In recent years, the struggling U.S. economy and high energy prices have caused record numbers of Americans to apply for home heating assistance. Currently, however, the number of households eligible for LIHEAP continues to surpass those able to receive assistance. Shaheen has been a strong supporter of the LIHEAP program throughout her time in the Senate advocating for its funding every year since 2009. Shaheen was recently part of a successful bipartisan effort to get Health and Human Service Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to expedite the release LIHEAP funds allowing those in need to receive assistance as soon as possible. Shaheen also wrote to President Obama urging him to include no less than $4.7 billion for LIHEAP in his FY 2015 funding request.