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Biden offering aid to Americans for winter utility bills

Biden

Presidednt Joe Biden has a novel idea to help people with their heating and utility costs, but instead of spending money from his massive infrastructure bill, which is funded by average American’s tax dollars, why not just tackle the inflation problem and lower prices? The Biden Administration is taking steps to give billions in financial aid to Americans, to help them fight the rising costs of heating their homes this winter. As reported by the AP:

The package will provide an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

The Biden administration is taking steps to help distribute several billion dollars in aid for winter heating and utility bills, an unprecedented sum that comes largely from its $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package.

President Joe Biden speaks during a visit to the General Motors Factory ZERO electric vehicle assembly plant, Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2021, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

The package provided an additional $4.5 billion for the government’s Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which typically has funding of $3 billion to $4 billion annually. Aid for renters can also cover utility costs, while the money provided to state, local and tribal governments can help families that face high heating bills and are ineligible for other programs.

“It’s another example of where the American Rescue Plan included extra precautions to ensure we would be prepared,” said Gene Sperling, who is overseeing coronavirus relief for the White House. “These new programs and funding were designed to ensure that if the weather was colder or the prices were higher, we would have the highest resources ever to help as many hard-pressed families as possible.”

Biden reverses Trump
In this May 5, 2021 photo, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra speaks at a health center in Washington. The Biden administration says the government will protect gay and transgender people against sex discrimination in health care. That reverses a Trump-era policy that sought to narrow the scope of legal rights in sensitive situations involving medical care. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said Monday that LGBTQ people should have the same access to health care as everyone else. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The White House sent out invites for a call Thursday afternoon with representatives from governors’ offices to discuss ways to distribute the funds and coordinate across programs. Speakers on the call will include Sperling, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and the governors of Connecticut, Maine and Michigan.

The aid helps to create a cushion that limits the shock of higher energy costs ahead of winter. Republican lawmakers have said the relief package, which became law in March, caused higher levels of inflation, with prices in October 6.2% higher than a year ago.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., does a cable news interview before the start of a two-week recess, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, June 23, 2021. Earlier, President Joe Biden announced a bipartisan agreement on a pared-down infrastructure plan that would make a start on his top legislative priority and validate his efforts to reach across the political aisle. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“The Democrats’ inflation is functioning like an ultra-punitive tax on the American families who can least afford it, exactly the opposite of a ‘high-class problem,'” Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said in a Wednesday floor speech.

But in this instance, the spending from the aid package is already helping to insulate millions of households from higher utility bills. Estimates by the Urban Institute based off a Census Bureau survey indicate that a third of families used the monthly payments from the expanded child tax credit to pay their utility bills between July and October 2021.

Electricity and natural gas prices are roughly 11% higher than a year ago, according to the Labor Department’s consumer price index. Heating oil prices have more than doubled over the past year, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Biden
President Joe Biden speaks with members of the press before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, in Washington. Biden is spending the weekend at his home in Delaware. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The administration is also calling on utilities and energy companies to use the available government resources to protect their most vulnerable customers. DTE Energy, Eversource, National Grid and NorthWestern Energy have already agreed to identify and notify eligible recipients and guarantee no shutoffs for customers seeking assistance.

By JOSH BOAK

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