LIHEAP STAFF IS LAID OFF
Health and Human Services laid off the staff of the Low Income Heat and Energy Assistance Program, news organizations report.
The entire staff of LIHEAP was let go on Monday, USA Today and multiple other news outlets reported. Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, told The New York Times, “They fired everybody, there’s nobody left to do anything.” The association represents state governments in federal programs to help low-income families pay water, heating, and cooling bills. “Either this was incredibly sloppy, or they intend to kill the program altogether,” Wolfe said to The Times.
LIHEAP provides heating and cooling assistance to about 6.2 million low-income households.
The National Energy & Fuels Institute and the Connecticut Energy Marketers Association were among industry groups that participated in LIHEAP Action Day on March 4 in Washington, D.C.
“Elimination of federal LIHEAP funding to states would have severe repercussions for vulnerable households relying on the program for energy security,” NEFI said in its March 11 newsletter.
