Julie Cassidy

President Donald Trump recently released a “skinny budget,” an overview of his priorities for federal spending in the upcoming fiscal year. The president has proposed axing the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) — a service critical to health and safety for families already living on the leanest of budgets.

LIHEAP’s elimination would be especially brutal if Congress follows through on a proposal to pay for tax cuts to millionaires with massive cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. The House Republicans’ plan would make it even more difficult for hundreds of thousands of families in our state to pay for basic needs.

LIHEAP is vital, serving 432,000 Michigan families in 2023. Most LIHEAP funds go to households in crisis — those at risk of or already experiencing a shutoff, or needing urgent furnace repairs. LIHEAP also provides assistance with monthly energy costs through the Home Heating Credit and energy efficiency improvements that permanently lower utility bills.

The high cost of heat and electricity contributes to the larger housing affordability crisis in our communities — something our lawmakers should remember as U.S. homelessness hit a record last year.

For struggling families, the burden of energy costs can be crushing. Housing, including utilities, is considered affordable if it costs no more than 30% of household income. For Michigan families below 50% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), energy bills alone eat up nearly $4 of every $10. That doesn’t leave much for other survival needs like rent, food and medicine.

It’s not just families with the very lowest incomes feeling the pressure. For each Michigan household below 200% FPL, yearly energy bills exceed what they can afford to pay by $1,758.

The gap is even larger in our state’s northern communities, where winters are harsher and poverty rates tend to be higher. The shortfall is $1,858 in Alpena County; $2,025 in Montmorency County; $2,127 in Presque Isle County; and $2,256 in Alcona County.

Across the nation, 1 in 5 LIHEAP recipients are veterans. Here in Michigan, more than half of households receiving energy assistance include disabled people, seniors and/or young children.

Household energy security is especially important for babies and toddlers, who are more susceptible to heat- and cold-related mortality. And when their homes are too cold, their bodies have to direct the calories they eat toward keeping warm rather than growing.

The loss of LIHEAP would worsen persistent racial injustice. Historical and ongoing housing discrimination has disproportionately forced families of color into low-quality, energy-inefficient homes. As a result, Black and Latino households must spend a larger share of their income than white households do on utility bills.

Wiping out LIHEAP also would magnify hunger, which is already on the rise. Families with low incomes eat less during the winter because they have to direct more of their budget to heating bills. If they can’t afford energy, they might have to choose less nutritious, but shelf-stable convenience foods over healthier options that require refrigeration and use of the stove.

The proposed LIHEAP elimination represents another step in the Trump administration’s cruel plan to take basic needs away from people struggling to get by, all under the guise of government efficiency.

Taxpayers (which include people receiving LIHEAP) will pay one way or another, either to provide energy assistance or deal with the larger social costs of not providing it. Home energy security is essential to health, success in school and at work, and overall housing and economic security for families. Thus, we can’t forget LIHEAP in our fight to defend America’s safety net.