Cantwell Pushes for Vital Home Heating Assistance Funds for Seniors and Working Poor
Thousands of families in need face through-the-roof energy bills, impossible choice between heating homes, buying medicine, and putting food on the table
WASHINGTON, DC – Wednesday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA), chair of the Energy Independence 2020 campaign, joined a coalition of senators calling on Congress to approve much-needed funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). This federal heating assistance program is underfunded by almost $3 billion. Unless Congress takes immediate action, thousands of eligible families in need will not get any help. Cantwell is fighting to increase home heating assistance in the face of sky-high energy costs hurting families and businesses across the country.
“In Spokane, Washington’s second largest city, 34,000 households qualify for energy assistance,” said Cantwell, a member of the Senate Energy Committee. “Yet, right now, only about 7,000 households are getting the help they need. In December, temperatures fell below freezing for 20 consecutive days, and over the last two months, overnight lows have dropped to 10 degrees or colder 14 times. We clearly need to do more to bring families and seniors in from the cold.”
"Last week in Bellingham word got out that additional heating assistance was available,” continued Cantwell. “By the time local agency employees arrived at 6:30 on a Saturday morning, the lines stretched around the building.”
Without additional funding, only a limited number of households applying for LIHEAP aid will receive assistance with this winter’s record high home heating costs. According to the Energy Information Agency, households heating with natural gas will face costs 35 percent above what they paid last winter. In a letter sent last Wednesday to Majority Leader Bill Frist, Cantwell joined other senators from cold-weather states to request an additional $2.92 billion for the LIHEAP.
“Each winter thousands of struggling families are left out in the cold because of high energy costs that are beyond their means,” said Cantwell. “Seniors and the working-poor should not be forced to decide between buying groceries, staying warm, and caring for their health.”
Last year, the Washington state LIHEAP program received $41.6 million to help the state’s poor handle their energy bills. With those funds, energy assistance was provided to 72,000 households—roughly 24 percent of the state’s eligible population. There are more than 300,000 Washington state residents with incomes that make them eligible for LIHEAP assistance. Underfunding prevents three quarters of eligible Washingtonians from receiving aid.
Last October, Cantwell sponsored an amendment that would have provided assistance to nearly 40,000 additional households this winter. Fifty-four Senators voted in favor of the measure, six short of the supermajority needed—the second time last fall that fewer than 50 Senators stopped the Senate from helping the elderly, low-income families, and disabled individuals pay their heating bills this winter.
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 to pay energy bills for low-income families and the elderly, LIHEAP helps to fund energy crisis intervention programs, low-cost residential weatherization, and other energy-related home repairs.
Cantwell is the chair of the Senate Democrats’ Energy Independence 2020 national campaign, working to break America’s overdependence on foreign oil, to protect working families from skyrocketing energy costs, and to stop unfair market manipulation by energy companies. Cantwell is fighting to stop price gouging, provide relief from high home heating costs, and invest in reliable sources of affordable fuel.
###
Next Article Previous Article
