A news release from Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Ron Wyden’s offices about the amount of money they secured for emergency heating assistance follows. Thank you Senators.

Oregon’s Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden announced today that that the State of Oregon will receive approximately $44 million to help families who are unable to pay their heating bills during the winter.  The funding amount is an estimate from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  As part of the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), the grant is administered through local Community Action Agencies across the state. The LIHEAP program provides low-income families with assistance paying for energy bills, home weatherization, and energy-related repairs.

Doing the work he was elected and sent to Washington, D.C.  for, we applaud and salute Oregon’s junior Senator Jeff Merkley (our former State Representative from east Portland) today for working to reverse the devastation visited on the American financial system through years of purposeful deregulation.
The release from his office follows:

Oregon’s Senator Jeff Merkley joined Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) and fellow committee members today to announce the beginning of committee work on a package of financial regulatory reform legislation.