Theo Wells-Spackman is a Report for America corps member who reports for VTDigger.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has released nearly $21 million in long-awaited federal funding for Vermont’s heating assistance programs, members of the state’s congressional delegation said Tuesday.
“LIHEAP is an essential lifeline for more than 20,000 Vermont households every year,” said U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. in a Tuesday release, describing the federal Low Income Home Energy Fuel Assistance Program. “Being able to heat your home is a matter of life and death.”
U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., agreed in a similar statement on Tuesday, adding, “let’s be clear: these funds never should’ve been stalled in the first place.”
Money from the federal program is dispersed in Vermont through the state’s Seasonal Fuel Assistance and Crisis Fuel Assistance programs. Additional state appropriations allow the programs to reach Vermonters whose incomes are up to 185% and 200% of the federal poverty line, respectively. For a two-person household, that would mean an annual income of about $39,000 or $42,000.
Benefit amount depends on a number of factors including income and utility cost, but the average one-time award for the Seasonal Fuel Assistance program was roughly $1,000 in the last fiscal year.
During the federal government shutdown in October and November, the state dispersed $11 million in fuel assistance on time to individual households and fuel providers. The arrival of federal funds reimburses the state for that expense, and provides support for future benefits over the course of the winter.
Gov. Phil Scott said last month that he was “confident” that Congress would fulfill its obligation to provide that funding, in contrast with the state’s 15-day stopgap measure for food assistance.
In Tuesday’s release, Welch said funding for LIHEAP had been incorrectly hindered by President Donald Trump’s administration even after the government reopened Nov. 12.
“Not only was it illegal, but heartbreakingly cruel,” Welch said in the statement.
Vermont’s congressional delegation also criticized the Trump administration after mass layoffs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year, which included the entire federal staff of LIHEAP.
The White House called for the program’s elimination in a discretionary budget request in May, saying LIHEAP “is unnecessary because States have policies preventing utility disconnection for low-income households.”
Last week, a report from Vermont’s Public Utilities commission recommended that the state Legislature allocate more funding to expanding heat assistance for Vermonters, and prepare for potential losses in federal dollars. In particular, the commission was in favor of expanding the state’s Crisis Fuel Assistance program, which is designed to provide stopgap funding when a household is about to run out of fuel.
