President Obama’s 2012 budget, set to be released on Monday, will propose cutting $2.5 billion from a $5 billion program that provides home heating aid for the poor, according to the National Journal. A perennial budget target, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program would be slashed to its 2008 level.

Lawmakers from New England and other northern states always fight efforts to cut the program.

Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., is among them this year. He says the more than 3 million families that rely on the government’s help would suffer.

“I’ve always supported serious efforts to restore fiscal sanity, but in the middle of a brutal, even historic, New England winter, home heating assistance is more critical than ever to the health and welfare of millions of Americans, especially senior citizens,” Kerry said.

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