03.24.06

Cantwell Blasts Administration Failure to Deliver Home Heating Assistance to Washington State

WASHINGTON, DC – Friday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) released the following statement in response to a Bush Administration announcement that Washington state will receive none of the $500 million in newly approved emergency funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP):

“I am deeply troubled by this administration’s decision not to send my state even one dollar out of the half billion in emergency LIHEAP funding we approved earlier this month. More than 70 percent of eligible households in Washington state go without critical heating assistance. This administration’s decision to shortchange hundreds of thousands of seniors, families, and children fighting to keep the heat on is disturbing. I intend to continue working to get help to the many eligible families facing this real emergency.”

On Monday, the president signed legislation into law that provides an additional $1 billion in LIHEAP funding for Fiscal Year 2006. The law increased the funds available during 2006 by making $1 billion originally appropriated for Fiscal Year 2007 available during Fiscal Year 2006. $500 million will be given directly to states via an allocation formula, while the other half was allocated by the administration as emergency contingency funding.

LIHEAP is a federal block grant program that provides states with annual funding to operate home energy assistance programs for low-income households. In addition to helping low-income families and the elderly pay their energy bills, LIHEAP funds energy crisis intervention programs, low-cost residential weatherization, and other energy-related home repairs. There are 300,000 households eligible to receive LIHEAP assistance in Washington state.

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