Press Releases

House Appropriations Interior Chair Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) today joined her House colleagues in sending an emergency supplemental funding package to President Biden’s desk which includes $1 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) nationwide as well as support for war-torn Ukraine and urgently needed FEMA relief for Hurricane Fiona-battered Puerto Rico. The Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act of 2023 continues vital federal funding through December 16, 2022 in order to negotiate a final funding agreement for Fiscal Year 2023. The House passed six of twelve Appropriations bills in July.

“I’m grateful that Congressional leadership acted on my call for additional funds for home heating assistance. LIHEAP funding is essential for New Englanders as the winter season approaches and families continue to struggle with high energy prices,” said Pingree. “It’s imperative that we press on in our bipartisan efforts to pass a full appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2023. I look forward to working with my House and Senate appropriations colleagues to complete our work for the people of Maine.”

The Continuing Appropriations and Ukraine Supplemental Appropriations Act, 2023:

• Extends funding for vital federal agencies, including education, health, housing, and public safety programs, through December 16. This continued funding grows opportunity through early childhood education, invests in our schools and high-quality job training programs, provides critical nutrition assistance and affordable housing opportunities, secures our nation, and supports our veterans.

• Invests an additional $1 billion LIHEAP to help address pressure on low-income households’ pocketbooks due to inflation; $2.5 billion to help New Mexico communities recover from the Hermit’s Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, the largest wildfire in the state’s history; $2 billion for the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery program to aid the long-term housing, infrastructure and economic recovery needs of communities impacted by disasters in 2021 and 2022; and, $20 million for water and wastewater infrastructure improvements previously authorized for Jackson, Mississippi. This funding will help families and small businesses get back on their feet and rebuild from natural disasters while repairing damage to critical infrastructure.
  
  
• Includes language that allows the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to obligate up to the full year amount available under the continuing resolution for the Disaster Relief Fund if needed to respond to declared disasters such as Hurricane Fiona in Puerto Rico and a severe storm, flooding, and landslides in Alaska.
  
  
• Provides $12.3 billion in assistance related to Ukraine, including training, equipment, weapons, logistics support, and direct financial support for the government of Ukraine.
  
  
• In addition, the legislation carries authorizing divisions related to the Food and Drug Administration and other authorizing extensions.

A detailed, section-by-section summary is here. The full text of the legislation is here.

On September 15, Pingree and Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) led a coalition of representatives from the New England Congressional Delegations in writing to the U.S. House and Senate Appropriations Committees, urging them to include additional funding for LIHEAP in the government funding package. 

Pingree, a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, and the House voted in July to pass a package of six government funding bills which will help families and communities across America, including the Interior and Environment bill she authored.

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