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| THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA |
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION |
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| INTRODUCED BY WATERS, YOUNGBLOOD, KIRKLAND, PAYTON, PARKER, BELFANTI, BOBACK, BRADFORD, BRENNAN, BUXTON, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, CONKLIN, DONATUCCI, FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HESS, JOSEPHS, KORTZ, MANN, MELIO, MILLARD, M. O'BRIEN, PALLONE, PAYNE, READSHAW, SAINATO, SCAVELLO, SIPTROTH AND SWANGER, APRIL 23, 2009 |
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| REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS, APRIL 23, 2009 |
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| A RESOLUTION |
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1 | Urging the President and the Congress of the United States to |
2 | increase funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance |
3 | Program. |
4 | WHEREAS, The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program |
5 | (LIHEAP) was authorized by Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget |
6 | Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35, 95 Stat. 357) and |
7 | began in 1982; and |
8 | WHEREAS, Its purpose is to assist low-income households, |
9 | particularly those under the poverty level, that pay a high |
10 | proportion of household income for home energy to meet immediate |
11 | home energy needs; and |
12 | WHEREAS, Federal dollars for LIHEAP are allocated by the |
13 | United States Department of Health and Human Services to the |
14 | states as a block grant and are disbursed under programs |
15 | designed by the individual states; and |
16 | WHEREAS, LIHEAP remains dependent on the Federal |
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1 | appropriations process for its funding; and |
2 | WHEREAS, LIHEAP is administered at the state and county |
3 | levels by government agencies and implemented primarily at the |
4 | local level by community action programs (CAPS), local welfare |
5 | agencies and area agencies on aging; and |
6 | WHEREAS, In this Commonwealth LIHEAP is administered by the |
7 | Department of Public Welfare and consists of three components: |
8 | cash benefits to help eligible low-income households pay for |
9 | their home-heating fuel; crisis payments to resolve weather- |
10 | related, supply shortage and other household energy-related |
11 | emergencies; and energy conservation and weatherization measures |
12 | to address long-range solutions to the home-heating problems of |
13 | low-income households; and |
14 | WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is the leading petroleum-refining state |
15 | in the Northeast, and the Drake Well in Titusville, |
16 | Pennsylvania, was the world's first commercial oil well, and |
17 | western Pennsylvania was the site of the world's first oil boom; |
18 | and |
19 | WHEREAS, According to the annual Home Energy Affordability |
20 | Gap report, Pennsylvania, along with much of the Northeast, is |
21 | vulnerable to distillate fuel oil shortages and price spikes |
22 | during winter months due to high demand for home heating; and |
23 | WHEREAS, More than one-fourth of Pennsylvania households rely |
24 | on fuel oil as their primary energy source for home heating; and |
25 | WHEREAS, In 2006, Pennsylvania provided over 350,000 |
26 | households with financial heating assistance, which is |
27 | approximately 44% of the 800,300 eligible households in the |
28 | State; and |
29 | WHEREAS, Families in this Commonwealth receiving LIHEAP |
30 | assistance have incomes below 150% of the Federal poverty level; |
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1 | and |
2 | WHEREAS, According to the Campaign for Home Energy |
3 | Assistance, while the residential energy burden for all United |
4 | States households in 2001 was 7% of their income, for LIHEAP |
5 | recipient households the residential energy burden was 17.2%, |
6 | nearly 2.5 times the average burden; and |
7 | WHEREAS, Fifteen percent of LIHEAP grant funding is allocated |
8 | to weatherization efforts; and |
9 | WHEREAS, The Statewide waiting list for weatherization |
10 | services is approximately 1.5 times the program's annual number |
11 | of homes weatherized and is growing by approximately 400 |
12 | households per year; and |
13 | WHEREAS, Recent rising energy costs and slow economic |
14 | conditions render it crucial that any potential for fraud within |
15 | the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program be eliminated; and |
16 | WHEREAS, LIHEAP has nurtured an effective partnership between |
17 | the Federal Government, state governments and the private |
18 | sector; therefore be it |
19 | RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the |
20 | Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and the Congress |
21 | of the United States to increase LIHEAP funding; and be it |
22 | further |
23 | RESOLVED, That the Federal Government put in place measures |
24 | to prevent fraud within the program or direct the states to |
25 | enact fraud prevention measures that could include establishing |
26 | verification and/or photo identification systems for those |
27 | receiving assistance under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance |
28 | Program; and be it further |
29 | RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to |
30 | the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of |
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1 | each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from |
2 | Pennsylvania. |
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