WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Charles Schumer Thursday announced that the Senate approved an amendment to the budget resolution providing for a increase to the Senate's budget for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by $1.9 billion – bringing the total to $5.1 billion.
LIHEAP provides emergency home-heating aid for low-income families and the elderly. Schumer was an original co sponsor of this amendment to add funding to LIHEAP to keep heating costs down as New Yorkers continue to face sky-rocketing energy costs during the winter months.
The Budget Resolution provides a framework for spending. In order to deliver this funding, the Congress will need to authorize and then appropriate the money through the normal appropriations process. Today's announcement is the first step in the process of increasing funding for this important program.
“As Upstate New York begins to thaw from the winter months, an increase in LIHEAP will be warmly welcomed by the low income and elderly residents who have been paying for soaring heating costs,” Schumer said. “In these tough economic times, more people than ever are going to rely on programs like LIHEAP in the future and the prospect of additional funds will hopefully ensure that anyone who needs help can get it.”
Due to rapidly rising energy costs, the number of households qualifying for LIHEAP assistance has risen dramatically since 2003, but funding for the program has lagged. A significant infusion came in the 2009 Continuing Resolution, and another infusion in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, but the program has not seen increases in the normal budgeting process. As a result, more needy and elderly New Yorkers who qualify for the program are forced to make difficult decisions between essentials and heating their homes.