Money to help US poor pay winter bills runs low

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N22375600.htm

Money to help US poor pay winter bills runs low

NEW YORK, Dec 22 (Reuters) - Several U.S. states are running low on heating aid for low-income families well ahead of the coldest winter months, as natural gas prices trade at nearly double last year's levels, according to a group of state energy officials.

States had been hoping for $2 billion in additional aid to the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance program in the massive wartime military spending bill which the Senate passed on Wednesday and which could have boosted the program's funds in the face of record fuel costs.

The $2 billion in extra LIHEAP aid was offered as an incentive for Northeastern senators to vote for drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, which Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens, a Republican, had attached to the bill.

But after Democrats killed ANWR drilling in the bill on Wednesday, the LIHEAP assistance was stripped out.