Vice President Kamala Harris was in Boston on Wednesday, where she outlined the Biden Administration's plan to help lower energy costs ahead of winter.
Harris appeared at the Sheet Metal Workers Union Local 17, where supporting good-paying jobs and manufacturing in the U.S. is also part of her message. The vice president was promoting the steps the Biden administration is taking to provide relief from the high home heating costs expected to affect millions of Americans this winter. About $13 billion will be invested including $300 million for Massachusetts. Harris also announced new money for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, also known as LIHEAP. All of this falls under the Inflation Reduction Act.
The Biden administration said Wednesday it is making $4.5 billion available through a low-income home energy assistance program to help with heating costs heading into what is expected to be a brutal winter.
Spending for the program is significantly higher than the typical annual funding of about $3.5 billion, but it is far below the $8 billion that the administration and congressional Democrats delivered last winter as part of President Joe Biden's economic rescue plan to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.
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The money spent last year was by far the largest appropriation in a single year since the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program was established in 1981.
The new funding includes an additional $1 billion approved by Congress as part of a stopgap budget measure adopted in September and $100 million from the bipartisan infrastructure law that Biden signed last year.
The money will be provided to state, local and tribal governments to help more than 5 million families pay heating and utility bill costs, and can also be used to make home energy repairs.
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"As heating costs increase, it is more important than ever to help families struggling to make ends meet,'' said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra.
Harris outlined the administration is trying to lower energy costs as we approach the colder months and also make it easier for people to access energy-efficient equipment when making repairs in order to help offset costs long-term, including additional support for low-income families and tax credits home and building owners can use under the Inflation Reduction Act to make upgrades and install energy-efficient equipment.
The administration is also looking to bring more heat pump manufacturing to the U.S. and is bringing together a group of private companies who are launching an educational campaign on money-saving opportunities.
Harris also spoke at a campaign event for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Maura Healey, who is running against Republican Geoff Diehl for the state's top job.
You might wonder why the vice president came to Massachusetts days before the election, a state that leans very Democratic, when there are other swing states races that are much closer than the ones here. A Healey campaign spokesperson told NBC10 Boston it was all about raising enthusiasm for the "Get out the Vote" effort, particularly for communities of color.
