PRINTER'S NO. 296
No. 258 Session of 2003
INTRODUCED BY GEORGE, DeWEESE, DeLUCA, BARD, BEBKO-JONES,
BELARDI, BELFANTI, BISHOP, BROWNE, BUXTON, CAWLEY, CORRIGAN,
COSTA, COY, CRUZ, CURRY, DALEY, DALLY, EACHUS, D. EVANS,
FRANKEL, FREEMAN, GABIG, GRUCELA, GRUITZA, HALUSKA, HARHAI,
HENNESSEY, HERMAN, HORSEY, JOSEPHS, KELLER, KIRKLAND,
LAUGHLIN, LEDERER, LEH, LESCOVITZ, LEVDANSKY, MANDERINO,
MARKOSEK, McCALL, McILHATTAN, MELIO, MUNDY, MYERS, PISTELLA,
PRESTON, READSHAW, ROBERTS, RUBLEY, RUFFING, SAINATO,
SANTONI, SATHER, SAYLOR, SHANER, B. SMITH, SOLOBAY, STABACK,
STURLA, SURRA, TANGRETTI, THOMAS, TIGUE, TRAVAGLIO, WALKO,
WOJNAROSKI, YOUNGBLOOD, YUDICHAK AND KOTIK, FEBRUARY 12, 2003
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES,
FEBRUARY 12, 2003
AN ACT
1 Authorizing the Department of Public Welfare to issue Low-Income
2 Home Energy Assistance Grants; and establishing the Emergency
3 Energy Fund.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Short title.
7 This act shall be known and may be cited as the Low-Income
8 Home Energy Assistance Grant Act.
9 Section 2. Definitions.
10 The following words and phrases when used in this act shall
11 have the meanings given to them in this section unless the
12 context clearly indicates otherwise:
13 "Department." The Department of Public Welfare of the
1 Commonwealth.
2 "Household." An individual or group of individuals,
3 including related roomers, who live together as one economic
4 unit that customarily pays for its home heating energy either
5 directly to a vendor or indirectly as an undesignated part of
6 rent.
7 "LIHEAP." The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program
8 authorized by the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Act of 1981
9 (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 8621 et seq.) and administered by
10 the Department of Public Welfare.
11 Section 3. Low-Income Home Energy Assistance.
12 (a) Authorization.--The department shall apply for and
13 expend Federal funds for LIHEAP and shall establish the
14 Pennsylvania Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Cash, Crisis and
15 Weatherization Program.
16 (b) Income eligibility requirements.--
17 (1) Except as otherwise provided for in paragraph (2), a
18 household may apply for benefits under the programs
19 established in subsection (a) and shall receive benefits if
20 the household meets the following income eligibility
21 requirements: the household has a dwelling unit occupied by
22 one or more persons with an income at or below 150% of the
23 Federal poverty guideline amount.
24 (2) The Governor may, by regulation, raise the income
25 eligibility requirements set forth in paragraph (1) above
26 150% of the Federal poverty guideline amount for the
27 following reasons:
28 (i) weather conditions;
29 (ii) energy costs; or
30 (iii) manmade or natural disasters.
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1 (c) Prebuying.--The department shall develop strategies for
2 prebuying and making bulk purchases of fuel in order to reduce
3 the adverse effects of market fluctuations and minimize the
4 overall cost to the Commonwealth.
5 (d) Amount of grants.--
6 (1) Except as provided for in paragraph (2):
7 (i) The department shall make crisis and cash awards
8 from the Emergency Energy Fund on a sliding scale based
9 on household income with grants for each program ranging
10 from a minimum of $50 for each type of grant to a maximum
11 of $400.
12 (ii) The department shall establish guidelines to
13 prioritize available funds for potential eligible
14 households of a weatherization component.
15 (iii) If any LIHEAP recipient is not eligible under
16 Federal eligibility guidelines for a LIHEAP cash or
17 crisis grant or if there are not enough Federal funds to
18 assist all eligible households under Federal rules and
19 regulations, then the department shall issue State grants
20 up to the maximum level under subparagraph (i).
21 (2) The Governor may, by regulation, increase the grant
22 amounts set forth in paragraph (1) for the following reasons:
23 (i) weather conditions;
24 (ii) energy costs; or
25 (iii) manmade or natural disasters.
26 Section 4. Emergency Energy Fund.
27 (a) Established.--A fund is hereby established in the State
28 Treasury to be known as the Emergency Energy Fund. The moneys of
29 the fund are hereby appropriated on a continuing basis to carry
30 out the provisions of this act.
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1 (b) Emergency Energy Fund.--An amount equal to 0.25 mills of
2 the utilities gross receipts tax collected during each fiscal
3 year under Article XI of the act of March 4, 1971 (P.L.6, No.2),
4 known as the Tax Reform Code of 1971, shall be transferred to
5 the Emergency Energy Fund for the purpose of carrying out the
6 provisions of this act.
7 (c) Utilization of emergency Federal funds.--
8 (1) Federal funds available for and resulting from
9 emergency, supplemental or additional allocations of Federal
10 grants for low-income home energy assistance may be added to
11 the moneys transferred under subsection (b) or to funds
12 appropriated or that may be used for the purposes prescribed
13 by the Federal Government.
14 (2) In addition to any moneys appropriated under the
15 general appropriation acts, all moneys received from the
16 Federal Government for the purpose of low-income home energy
17 assistance shall be paid into the Emergency Energy Fund and
18 are hereby appropriated out of the Emergency Energy Fund to
19 the departments, boards, commissions or agencies designated
20 by the Governor.
21 (3) In the event the General Assembly fails to act in
22 sufficient time, the Governor is authorized through executive
23 authorization to provide up to $60,000,000 in Federal funds
24 to implement the provisions of this act.
25 Section 5. Regulations.
26 The department shall promulgate rules and regulations
27 necessary to implement this act.
28 Section 6. Effective date.
29 This act shall take effect immediately.
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