The Trump Administration has given pink slips to the entire staff of a program that helps low-income Americans with their heating and cooling bills. The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, otherwise known as LIHEAP, assisted about 216,000 Missourians in budget year 2023.
Sandra Padgett, executive director of the Consumers Council of Missouri, said the program had 15 workers.
“The fact that there aren’t very many people working there makes it even more ridiculous, because it’s not a huge part of the budget. It signals that the Trump Administration is not empathetic to the needs of people who are low-income and are struggling to get by,” Padgett told Show Me Today.
She said the need for the federal help is likely to increase soon.
“Ameren has requested a 15% rate increase. Spire has also requested a 15% increase. And Liberty, they have requested a 30% increase. The Missouri Legislature recently passed Senate Bill 4. We expect that that will increase household rates by $1,115 per year,” she said.
Whether vulnerable Missourians will still be able to access federal aid through LIHEAP is unknown.
“If you fire the LIHEAP staff, and then you increase the rates, and then you also have legislation that adds an additional impact to the rates that people are struggling with, to me, it seems as if you’re creating a situation where there’s an impending social service disaster,” said Padgett.
Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors Association, said LIHEAP provides about $4 billion to help millions of Americans with their heating and cooling bills. The agency has $387 million in funds remaining for this year.
U.S. Health and Human Services Director Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said the department is realigning with its core mission and new priorities in reversing the chronic disease epidemic. He said the agency will do more at a lower cost to the taxpayer.
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