On July 11, Sens. Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME), along with 35 other Senators, sent a letter to Senate leadership and members of the Senate Appropriations Committee calling for $2.5 billion in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funding in a second 2008 "economic stimulus" package.
Co-signing the letter from New England were Sens. Dodd (D-CT), Kennedy (D-MA), Kerry (D-MA), Leahy (D-VT), Lieberman (I-CT), Sanders (I-VT), Snowe (R-ME), Sununu (R-NH), and Whitehouse (D-RI). The Appropriations Committee is likely to mark-up the second stimulus bill on July 22.
Under discussion for inclusion in a second stimulus bill are more infrastructure funding, more money for food stamps and state Medicaid programs and consumer rebates