President Donald Trump has proposed eliminating heating aid for low-income Americans, claiming the federal fuel aid program is no longer necessary and rife with fraud. People needn’t worry about being left in the cold, he says, because utilities cannot cut off customers in the dead of winter.

But he is wrong on all counts.

The heating program provides a critical lifeline for many poor people. And officials close to the program say they don’t see any widespread fraud. Guidelines for winter shutoffs by utilities vary from state to state but don’t apply to heating oil, a major energy source in the bitter New England winter.

This past winter Community Action, the region’s anti-poverty agency, received 8,663 households in Franklin and Hampshire counties, of which 7,539 were met the income requirements vafter vetting.  The assistance ranges from $440 to $1,100 depending on the size of the household. 

Eliminating a program that for decades has helped the poorest New Englanders survive the winter represents more cruel thinking by billionaires in the White House who seem to see fraud behind every social aid program and cite that unfounded suspicion as reason for ending such programs.

Happily, those who follow such things in Washington say this White House proposal to kill the fuel aid program, which has distributed $3.4 billion to about 6 million households this fiscal year, will face strong opposition in Congress.

Forty-three senators from mostly cold-weather states already signed a letter urging the Republican chairman and ranking Democrat on an appropriations subcommittee to ensure funding for the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program, known in many states by its acronym, LIHEAP.

Mark Wolfe, of the National Energy Assistance Directors’ Association, said that the Trump administration is relying on an old General Accounting Office report on the fraud claim, and that needed improvements have been made. In Maine, for example, only 100 cases — 0.3 percent of all submitted applications — are being investigated for potential fraud, according to MaineHousing.

Health and Human Services Secretary Thomas Price, who contends the LIHEAP program doesn’t demonstrate “strong performance outcomes,” said difficult decisions are necessary to streamline the government to focus on the administration’s goals of spending big on defense and public safety.

But  LIHEAP already has undergone cuts in recent years.

The average benefit was reduced by $100 from 2010 to 2015 as funding was cut during the Obama administration. That coincides with Venezuela’s Citgo Petroleum Corp. ending participation in a free-oil program run by a Massachusetts-based nonprofit.

Nationwide, the average home heating cost last winter was $1,448 for propane, $1,227 for heating oil, $902 for electricity and $577 for natural gas. That is a significant burden for all families, but particularly low-income ones. 

Sen. Angus King, an independent from Maine, said he and other senators, including fellow Mainer Susan Collins, a Republican, will fight for the program, which he said ensures that needy people “aren’t forced to make the impossible choice between heat and food, medications, or other necessities.”

We have no doubt that the western Massachusetts delegation in Congress has supported LIHEAP over the years and we would urge our current congressmen and U.S. senators to oppose elimination of this vital program. If along the way, fraud can be found, it should be cut, and if efficiences can be found in the use of tax dollars, they should be embraced. We prefer government by scalpel not by battle ax.

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