NCAF Testifies Before Senate Subcommittee on Children and Families

Today the National Community Action Foundation made the case for increased support for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) on Capitol Hill.

Dr. Meg Power, pictured at far left, represented NCAF at a U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) subcommittee meeting on Children and Families. She told the committee that consumers’ bills for the energy they need to meet only the most basic requirements for safe housing have not been higher in a generation.

Recent forecasts show that during this fiscal year, the 34 million households eligible for LIHEAP can expect to pay an average of 17 percent of their average household income for energy. The lowest 13 million Americans in poverty may spend up to 22 percent of their incomes for energy. Households that are ineligible for LIHEAP average a 4 percent energy burden.

NCAF recommends a $6 billion LIHEAP authorization to meet more energy needs, a fairer distribution formula and other changes to the program that support family stabilization.

LIHEAP is an important tool in the fight to reduce poverty and stabilize low-income workers, retirees and their families, but it has become too small a lever, by contrast, to the energy burden that must be relieved. In recent years, many have come into their Community Action Agency for the first time, having never before sought help from any government or charitable program, but are unable to pay the high bill to keep from being disconnected from utility service or denied a fuel delivery.

NCAF believes the current LIHEAP formula creates a barrier to additional funding because the coldest states reap so little reward from new appropriations. Warm-state consumers are disproportionately affected by increases in their energy bills, because the LIHEAP resource shortfall compared to the need is so great. NCAF proposes legislation to require the Secretary of Health and Human Services or the Congressional Research Service to work with the Census Bureau to deliver at least three options for a formula that ensures every state is a winner when funding increases.

Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), chairman of the Senate HELP Subcommittee on Children and Families, also said LIHEAP should be reauthorized and expanded.

“LIHEAP is not just a heating and cooling program – it is a homeownership program, a nutrition program, and a health program,” said Dodd. “A family that struggles to pay its energy bill may be forced to turn off the heat, cut back on purchasing nutritious food, or go without necessary medications. A child who can’t sleep from hunger or cold can’t pay attention in class the next morning and will be more prone to illness, putting further pressure on our schools and our health care system. An elderly homeowner who can’t pay their energy bill might be forced to leave their home.”

Click here for Dodd's testimony and to listen to audio from the hearing. NCAF's full testimony will be posted at www.ncaf.org shortly.

-- David Bradley, NCAF Executive Director, Washington

Photos courtesy of the office of Sen. Chris Dodd