Congress Is Cool To Trump’s Proposal To End Heating Aid

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Politicians have been chipping away at funding for heating aid to low-income Americans for several years. Now President Donald Trump has proposed ending it altogether, eliciting an outcry from advocates for low-income residents who depend on the program to stay warm.

Trump contends the $3.4 billion program is rife with fraud and no longer necessary. He says there's no need to worry about people having their heat turned off in the winter because of restrictions placed on regulated utilities.

But heating oil companies have no obligation to make deliveries to people who cannot pay. That's a problem in the Northeast, a region that's heavily dependent on oil.

Retiree Richard Perkins from Ogunquit, Maine, said his income is fixed but his expenses keep growing. He called the proposed elimination of heating aid "cruel."