Stanton-led letter calls on Trump administration to preserve lifesaving LIHEAP funding as summer heat approaches
WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Representative Greg Stanton (AZ-04) is leading Arizona’s Democratic Members of Congress in a letter to President Donald Trump, urging him not to cut funding for a program that helps families afford air conditioning during Arizona’s dangerously hot summers.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, provides emergency cooling support, help with utility bills, and repairs for home air-conditioning systems. Stanton said cutting this funding would endanger lives across the state.
The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, provides emergency cooling support, help with utility bills, and repairs for home air-conditioning systems. Stanton said cutting this funding would endanger lives across the state.
The White House is expected to ask Congress to approve a plan—known as a rescissions package—that would cancel previously approved funding for programs like LIHEAP.
“If these reports are indeed true, we stand against any rescission of LIHEAP funding,” the members write. “In the Arizona summers, when temperatures can climb well into the triple digits, this assistance is nothing short of life saving.”
Last year, more than 600 Arizonans died of heat exposure, with nearly a quarter of those deaths occurring indoors in homes without working cooling systems. In many cases, air-conditioning units were either broken, disconnected, or turned off to save money on electricity costs. Phoenix has already recorded temperatures above 100 degrees this year—weeks earlier than normal.
The full letter is available HERE.
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Congressman Greg Stanton is the former mayor of Phoenix now proudly representing Arizona’s 4th District in Congress—encompassing all of Tempe, and parts of Phoenix, Mesa and Chandler. Stanton serves on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party. He is a member of the moderate, pragmatic New Democrat Coalition.