Markey, Bipartisan Group of Lawmakers Call on Obama to Increase Home Energy Assistance Funding in 2013 Budget Request

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 30, 2012 – (RealEstateRama) — Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), longtime Congressional champion of providing assistance to low-income families to heat and cool their homes and dean of the Massachusetts Congressional delegation, was joined by a bipartisan group of 102 lawmakers in a letter urging President Barack Obama to fund the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) at the FY2011 level of $4.7 billion. Rep. Markey led the letter with Representatives Lou Barletta (R-Pa.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Peter King (R-N.Y.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.), John Larson (D-Ct.) and Jim Gerlach (R-Pa.). Funding for LIHEAP in FY2012 was cut by 24 percent, to $3.47 billion.