Northern, Southern Lawmakers Team Up to Seek
LIHEAP Funding Increase

WASHINGTON — In what may be a landmark demonstration of collaboration, lawmakers from both the North and South have teamed up to initiate a bipartisan request for more money for the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, LIHEAP.

Representatives Charles "Chip" Pickering, Jr. (R-MS) and Edward J. Markey (D-MA) are urging their colleagues to sign a letter to the chairman and ranking Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee that seeks $3.4 billion for LIHEAP in Fiscal Year 2004.

"We know you may be shocked to see us cosigning a letter on LIHEAP," Pickering and Markey wrote in a May 8 letter to other House members. "It is true we come from very diverse areas of the country, and our politics may differ from time to time. However, we are in solid agreement on one simple fact: the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is woefully under-funded, and its appropriation for FY 2004 must be increased."

LIHEAP was created to ensure that families living at or below the poverty level are not without heat during the winter's coldest months or without some form of cooling during deadly, summer heat waves ˜ so that they are not forced to choose between paying for energy and paying for other essentials.

The program was funded at about $1.8 billion for FY 2003, up slightly from the year before.

"Elderly, handicapped and poor families in every state rely upon LIHEAP as a lifeline in times of extreme heat and cold," said David Fox, communications director of the Campaign for Home Energy Assistance, a broad-based coalition of advocates for the poor, consumer advocates and utilities that support LIHEAP. "The program helps those with the greatest need ˜ and those most at risk."

The program served an estimated 4.4 million households in 2002, yet only about 20 percent of those who could receive LIHEAP assistance actually got help. Due to the harsh winter and higher heating costs, it is believed that an even smaller percentage would be served this year.

"One of the primary reasons for this disparity is that states generally run out of money long before the demand is met. There are simply too many people in need and too few dollars to meet that need," Fox said. "That's why we applaud the efforts of Congressmen Pickering and Markey. They understand the problem ˜ and the solution."

The two lawmakers told their colleagues that for the program to have the same purchasing power today as it did in 1982, the appropriation for LIHEAP would have to be at the $3 billion level.

"As population has increased, LIHEAP dollars have not," the lawmakers said. "Recognizing that fact, both the House Energy & Commerce Committee and the Senate Energy Committee have recommended raising the LIHEAP authorization level from $2 billion to $3.4 billion. However, raising the authorization is not enough. We must appropriate the dollars necessary to fully fund the program."

Within the first four days of contacting colleagues, nearly four dozen names were on the letter to key appropriators. Co-signers include Reps. Robert Simmons (R-CT), Dale Kildee (D-MI), Gary Ackerman (D-NY), Barney Frank (D-MA), Philip English (R-PA), Vito Fossella (R-NY), Rick Boucher (D-VA), Gene Green (D-TX), Michael McNulty (D-NY), Robert Matsui (D-CA), John Olver (D-MA), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY), John Larson (D-CT), Diane Watson (D-CA), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY), Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Amo Houghton (R-NY), Jim Ramstad (R-MN), Michael Ferguson (R-NJ), Rahm Emanuel (D-IL), James McGovern (D-MA), Melissa Hart (R-PA), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Janice Schakowsky (D-IL), Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Ted Strickland (D-OH), Robert Andrews (D-NJ), Ron Kind (D-WI), Richard Neal (D-MA), Mike Ross (D-AR), Charles Bass (R-NH), John Dingell (D-MI), Bobby Rush (D-IL), Luis Guiteirrez (D-IL), Stephen Lynch (D-MA), Marty Meehan (D-MA), Nancy Johnson (R-CT), Steve Israel (D-NY), Jim McDermott (D-WA) and William Jefferson (D-LA).

The Campaign for Home Energy Assistance is urging its members to ask their representatives to join Pickering and Markey in their effort. Among the Campaign's member organizations are the Alliance to Save Energy, American Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, Edison Electric Institute, National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, National Fuel Funds Network and The Salvation Army.