ACTION ALERT!
ACTION ALERT
Signers Needed for LIHEAP Request on Senate Budget Resolution
To: NFFN members and allies February 20, 2008
A critical step in securing additional LIHEAP funding is to include an adequate level in the yearly budget resolution. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have written their colleagues asking for signers to Senate budget leaders asking that the Senate budget resolution for FY 2009 include $5.1 billion for LIHEAP. The letter is found below. So far, the following Senators have signed the letter: Jack Reed, Susan Collins, Max Baucus, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Joe Lieberman, Bernard Sanders, Debbie Stabenow, Hillary Clinton, and Dan Akaka.
If your Senators have not yet signed the letter, please call them at 202-224-3121 and request that they do so. They may sign on by emailing Chris Hickling, Legislative Director of the Northeast Midwest Senate Coalition (chris_hickling@reed.senate.gov) no later than close of business, Friday, February 22nd, 2008.
A similar effort in the House of Representatives closed on February 15.
LIHEAP supporters in the Senate are still seeking amendable legislation to which to attach an amendment for additional LIHEAP funding for FY 2008.
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U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
February 15, 2008
Support the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP)
Dear Colleague:
We invite you to join us in sending the attached letter to the Senate Budget Committee requesting the authorized $5.1 billion for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in the fiscal year 2009 budget resolution.
LIHEAP helps low-income families and seniors remain healthy and secure from bitter cold winters in the North and hot summers in the South. Many low-income families, individuals with disabilities, and senior citizens living on fixed incomes, face unaffordable home energy costs—spending up to 17 percent of their income on home energy bills.
Energy prices have skyrocketed in recent years; from the 2001-2002 winter to the 2007-2008 winter increased heating fuels expenditures for natural gas (84 percent increase), propane (126 percent increase), and heating oil (212 percent increase) have stretched family budgets. LIHEAP funding has not grown at this same rate.
LIHEAP funding not only helps families cope with higher heating prices; it also makes homes safer for children. According to the Children’s Sentinel Nutrition Assessment Program (C-SNAP), babies and toddlers living in households that are inadequately heated are more likely to have developmental problems, be hospitalized, and be in overall worse health.
Finally, LIHEAP is a proven dollar-multiplier and has demonstrated positive economic effects. Nationally, each LIHEAP dollar distributed generates more than five dollars of economic activity because families can spend their limited income on other essentials.
If you would like to sign this letter, please have your staff email e-mail Chris Hickling, Legislative Director of the Northeast Midwest Senate Coalition (chris_hickling@reed.senate.gov) no later than close of business, Friday, February 22nd, 2008. In the meantime, if you or your staff has any questions regarding this letter, please feel free to call Chris at 4-0606.
Sincerely,
____________________ ____________________
Senator Jack Reed Senator Susan Collins
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The Honorable Kent Conrad, Chairman
The Honorable Judd Gregg, Ranking Member
Committee on the Budget
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Conrad and Ranking Member Gregg:
We are writing urge you to provide the authorized $5.1 billion for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) in your fiscal year 2009 budget resolution.
Many Americans are struggling under the burden of high energy prices. According to the Energy Information Administration, some households can expect to pay as much as 37 percent more to heat their homes during the 2007-2008 winter than during the 2006-2007 winter. LIHEAP protects public health and safety by helping low-income families cope with these high energy costs. In addition, the program helps low-income homeowners weatherize their homes to save energy and lower their energy burden. Weatherization, on average, reduces heating bills by 31 percent and overall energy bills by $200 to $250 per year.
In FY 2008, LIHEAP appropriations totaled $2.57 billion. The President’s FY 2009 budget requests only $2 billion for LIHEAP. This cut will force states to either lower benefit amounts, or assist less people; an estimate by the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association (NEADA) found that as many as 1.2 million households could be dropped from the program. In the face of high energy prices and increasing shut-off rates, funding for LIHEAP should be increased, not decreased.
No family in our nation should be forced to choose between paying an energy bill and putting food on the table for themselves and their children. No senior citizen should have to decide between buying life-saving prescriptions and paying utility bills. For individuals and households that may have to face these difficult choices, LIHEAP makes a real difference in their ability to cope with adverse circumstances.
Your inclusion of $5.1 billion in LIHEAP funding in the fiscal year 2009 budget would help qualified low-income households receive much needed LIHEAP assistance in the coming year. Thank you for considering this request, and we look forward to working with you on this matter.
Sincerely,