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People Are Talking About the Need to Fully Fund The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Here's What They're Saying... LIHEAP "protects public health and safety by keeping families warm in winter and cool in summer. LIHEAP helps low-income families weatherize their homes, helping to lower their energy bill . With so many American households still desperately in need of the assistance provided by LIHEAP, and with an expected rise in home energy prices, increased funding for the program must be a top priority in the fiscal year 2007 appropriations process." "The combination of record high temperatures and record high electricity prices across the country has created a potentially dangerous environment for those who cannot afford to adequately cool their homes, particularly seniors and the disabled. LIHEAP can provide life-saving assistance in the form of air-conditioning, cooling centers and fans to low-income families in need." "As we move forward with the appropriations process for fiscal year 2007, I will be urging my colleagues to fund the LIHEAP program at its fully authorized level so that next year my constituents don't again find themselves struggling to pay record heating bills while Congress turns a blind eye.Increasing LIHEAP funding is not about earmarks-it is about helping our citizens with immediate and urgent needs." "LIHEAP protects hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors from having to choose between heating or cooling and eating. As such, the Administration's new budget proposals to cut 25 percent from the regular funds to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program and to cut the Weatherization Assistance Program by 40 percent are unacceptable. With continued high fuel prices, Congress should reject these cuts and approve full funding for LIHEAP at the $5.1 billion level authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005." "LIHEAP is a vital part of this country's social safety net but it must be adequately funded to be effective. Inflation and skyrocketing home energy costs coupled with static funding for LIHEAP has diminished the value of federal energy assistance grants. The level of funding for LIHEAP must be increased to $5.1 billion for FY 2007 with an advance appropriation of $5.1 billion for FY 2008." "Compounding the need for additional assistance to offset rising prices, the state LIHEAP
directors have estimated that the number of households receiving LIHEAP assistance is expected
to grow by 627,000 households, increasing to almost 5.8 million households this year [2006]. This is the highest level of applications in 12 years. Yet, the program only serves about 15.7 percent of the eligible population."
"Unfortunately, funding shortages in the LIHEAP program threaten to disproportionately affect America's poor, especially the elderly, whose health and well-being depend on a comfortable living environment, and who are more likely to suffer during brutal weather conditions." "Private assistance programs and utility fuel funds continue to help low-income families to manage their energy bills, but the need continues to grow beyond a level that such programs can support. We continue to urge Congress to fully appropriate LIHEAP at its authorized level of $5.1 billion. This would provide relief for the growing numbers of households in need of energy assistance." "Severely constrained state budgets, unprecedented poverty and rising energy prices are overwhelming the capabilities of faith, nonprofit, voluntary, and other community-based organizations to satisfactorily help eligible citizens heat and cool their homes. .Insufficient LIHEAP funding undermines and threatens state and local initiatives that need federal support to provide energy security for the working poor, elderly and disabled Americans." "LIHEAP would need to be funded at a higher level to recover the purchasing power it had in the early 1980s. LIHEAP provides vital heating and cooling assistance to low-income families, including working poor, senior citizens, and Americans with disabilities." "At present funding levels, it [LIHEAP] has been strained to the breaking point. The percentage of federally eligible households LIHEAP can reach has declined from 36 percent in FY 1981 to 20 percent in FY 2000. .Because LIHEAP is not a welfare program, it occupies an especially important niche. By helping our citizens to live independent lives, it prevents default into substantially more costly Medicare and Medicaid programs. If viewed in this context, it becomes apparent that a commitment to LIHEAP saves federal and state taxpayers vast sums of money." "APPA has consistently supported an increase in the authorization level for LIHEAP in order to keep up with the increasing number of consumers in need. We also advocate advanced funding for the program so that shortfalls do not occur in the winter months during the transition from one fiscal year to another. In the last several years, fuel price increases, severe winters, and high utility bills as a result of electricity marketplace problems have all made LIHEAP funding more important than ever." "Low income families, particularly the elderly, should not be victims of the rising cost of energy. LIHEAP ensures some quality of life for America's most venerable citizens. The level of funding for LIHEAP must be increased to meet the needs of those who benefit greatly from this crucial program." "LIHEAP is a critical source of help for low-income persons in meeting home
energy costs. 'To eat or to heat' should not be a choice that vulnerable
populations have to make. CFA has long been a proponent of the LIHEAP program
and supports a substantial increase in funding for energy assistance programs
for low-income consumers, the elderly and the handicapped."
"LIHEAP was established to help households at risk, including the elderly, people with disabilities and low income families, meet their home energy needs.
For many people with disabilities, energy is needed not just to regulate the household temperature but more importantly to run life-sustaining and life-enhancing medical equipment.
At a time when energy costs are at record levels, we must increase LIHEAP and ensure that our most vulnerable citizens - the elderly, people with disabilities, and working families - can afford to stay safe and warm this winter."
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