Today, the administration released a budget proposal for FY27 that will hurt Central Appalachian families. The budget completely eliminates funding for the Low-Income Household Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), slashes funding for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) by forty percent, and reduces funding for the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) by nearly ten percent. Even with the LIHEAP program in place, electric utilities performed nearly 270,000 disconnections in Kentucky alone in FY25, indicating that we need more funding for this program, not less. MSHA is already understaffed, with inspectors working overtime just to complete mandatory health and safety inspections. The ARC provides critical grant funding for many different infrastructure and economic development projects across the region.
We are deeply disappointed to see such disregard for these critical programs and urge Congress to reject these proposals.
