The White House’s fiscal year 2026 budget proposal calls for the elimination of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), which funds Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program - a program that each year helps approximately 125,000 income-eligible households in Minnesota keep their heat and lights on. 

Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program, which is fully funded by LIHEAP, has consistently proven its value as an effective, efficient way to keep energy affordable for all Minnesotans.  

Minnesota Commerce Commissioner Grace Arnold was joined in Duluth on May 12 by Citizens Utility Board Executive Director Annie Levenson-Falk and Arrowhead Economic Opportunity Agency Energy Assistance Coordinator Jean Pelletier to explain the impacts for Minnesota homeowners and renters if federal funding for Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program is eliminated.  

“Minnesota’s Energy Assistance Program has proven its value as an effective, efficient way to ensure families have homes that are safe and warm,” said Commissioner Arnold. “For more than four decades, the federal government has been a reliable partner in funding LIHEAP to keep energy affordable for all in the state. Eliminating this vital program is not government efficiency. It’s abandonment.”

May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the State of Minnesota.  

Commerce plays a role in supporting the mental health of Minnesotans by reviewing insurance benefits to ensure mental health coverage is equal to other types of medical care. Commerce also investigates complaints to ensure compliance with rules and regulations, publishing a mental health parity report each year.