The Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act would nearly double funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, the one federal program aimed at helping our country's most vulnerable cope with extreme weather.
"Low-income families, individuals with disabilities and seniors on fixed incomes in Arizona and across the country are struggling with high energy costs," said Giffords. "These people should not be forced to choose between cooling or heating their home and buying food or prescription medicine."
Arizona received $8.2 million in LIHEAP funds in FY 2008. The Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act would bring an additional $24,680,040 into the state.
Giffords' support of the Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act follows a July 22 letter she and 89 congressional colleagues sent to House leaders calling for at least $3.12 billion in LIHEAP funding. The lawmaker's noted that high energy costs have resulted in a record number of households facing utility disconnection.
"The Arizona Daily Star stated the issue well in its editorial of July 25," Giffords said. "The paper wrote that the federal government must realize that low-income households in Arizona and other Sun Belt states deserve the same kind of help with energy bills in the summer that residents of Northern and Eastern states receive in the winter. The Warm in Winter and Cool in Summer Act is intended to achieve exactly that."