July 17, 2001
 

The Honorable W.J. "Billy" Tauzin
Chairman
Committee on Energy and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
2125 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-6115

Dear Mr. Chairman:

The Coalition of Northeastern Governors (CONEG), which has long supported the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), applauds the efforts of the Energy and Commerce Committee to increase the authorized funding level for LIHEAP to $3.4 billion. However, we strongly oppose efforts to modify the current allotment formula by eliminating consideration of temperature conditions and to reduce the hold harmless provision.

The LIHEAP program has proven successful in assisting low-income households across the nation to cope with the combined effects of severe weather conditions and high energy costs. These households' limited financial resources must meet numerous essential needs — food, clothing, medical care, home heating, cooling, and transportation. Various federal, state and private sector programs provide assistance in meeting these diverse needs. However, LIHEAP, with a distribution formula that combines poverty as well as variable temperature conditions, is uniquely targeted to help low-income households manage the additional financial burden of heating and cooling their homes. Eliminating consideration of energy costs and heating/cooling degree-days from the formula will have a significant adverse impact on Northeast states, and would directly contradict the language of Title III, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Amendments of 1994, which recognizes the program's goal "…to assist low-income households, particularly those with the lowest incomes, that pay a high proportion of household income for home energy, primarily in meeting their immediate home energy needs."

The CONEG Governors also urge you to maintain the current hold-harmless levels in the program. Recent LIHEAP funding levels have not been adequate for states to meet the increased demand for regular caseloads and significant increases in emergency assistance from households in imminent danger of fuel service cut-off. Without the advance appropriations provided by the Congress in prior years, states with established programs already face uncertainty as they prepare for the coming heating season. Changes to the hold-harmless funding level would further diminish the ability of these programs to meet the high level of need.

We welcome the opportunity to share our views with the Committee, and we stand ready to provide you with additional information on the importance of the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program to the region.

Identical letters were sent to Representative Dingell and to leadership of the Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality.