Economy

States step in to provide heating aid as shutdown delays LIHEAP grants

It will take about a month for grants to reach households once the Trump administration releases the money.
Daniel DiDonato, a deliveryman for Heatable, brings heating oil to a home in Lewiston, Maine, Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)

Governors and agency leaders in at least five states have announced plans to use state money or excess federal funds to help low-income people heat their homes this month, as the federal government shutdown delays home energy assistance grants.

“By taking this step now, as winter approaches, we hope that at least some of our most vulnerable households will be able to avoid a heating emergency,” Dan Brennan, director of MaineHousing, the state’s housing authority, said in a statement last week. 

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