See other bills
under the
same topic
        PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 4230                      PRINTER'S NO. 4441

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


HOUSE RESOLUTION

No. 848 Session of 2008


        INTRODUCED BY WATERS, BISHOP, JAMES, MANDERINO, PRESTON,
           BELFANTI, CALTAGIRONE, COHEN, CONKLIN, DALEY, FLECK, FRANKEL,
           GEORGE, GIBBONS, GOODMAN, GRUCELA, HARKINS, HESS, KORTZ,
           KOTIK, KULA, LONGIETTI, MANN, McCALL, McGEEHAN, MELIO,
           MICOZZIE, R. MILLER, M. O'BRIEN, PAYNE, PETRARCA, PETRONE,
           QUINN, READSHAW, REICHLEY, ROCK, SAYLOR, SCAVELLO, SEIP,
           SIPTROTH, SOLOBAY, SURRA, SWANGER, VULAKOVICH, HENNESSEY,
           HARHAI, WHEATLEY, MURT, JOSEPHS, BRENNAN, KIRKLAND AND
           YUDICHAK, AUGUST 5, 2008

        AS AMENDED, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SEPTEMBER 24, 2008

                                  A RESOLUTION

     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 LOW-INCOME Home Energy Assistance      <--
     5  Program (LIHEAP) was authorized by Title XXVI of the Omnibus
     6  Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (Public Law 97-35, 95 Stat.
     7  357) and 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

     1     WHEREAS, LIHEAP remains dependent on the Federal
     2  appropriations process for its funding; and
     3     WHEREAS, LIHEAP is administered at the state and county
     4  levels by government agencies and implemented primarily at the
     5  local level by community action programs (CAPS), local welfare
     6  agencies and area agencies on aging; and
     7     WHEREAS, In this Commonwealth LIHEAP is administered by the
     8  Department of Public Welfare and consists of three components:
     9  cash benefits to help eligible low-income households pay for
    10  their home-heating fuel; crisis payments to resolve weather-
    11  related, supply shortage and other household energy-related
    12  emergencies; and energy conservation and weatherization measures
    13  to address long-range solutions to the home-heating problems of
    14  low-income households; and
    15     WHEREAS, Pennsylvania is the leading petroleum-refining state
    16  in the Northeast, and the Drake Well in Titusville,
    17  Pennsylvania, was the world's first commercial oil well, and
    18  western Pennsylvania was the site of the world's first oil boom;
    19  and
    20     WHEREAS, According to the annual Home Energy Affordability
    21  Gap report, Pennsylvania, along with much of the Northeast, is
    22  vulnerable to distillate fuel oil shortages and price spikes
    23  during winter months due to high demand for home heating; and
    24     WHEREAS, More than one-fourth of Pennsylvania households rely
    25  on fuel oil as their primary energy source for home heating; and
    26     WHEREAS, In 2006, Pennsylvania provided over 350,000
    27  households with financial heating assistance, which is
    28  approximately 44% of the 800,300 eligible households in the
    29  State; and
    30     WHEREAS, Families in this Commonwealth receiving LIHEAP
    20080H0848R4441                  - 2 -     

     1  assistance have incomes below 150% of the Federal poverty level;
     2  and
     3     WHEREAS, According to the Campaign for Home Energy
     4  Assistance, while the residential energy burden for all United
     5  States households in 2001 was 7% of their income, for LIHEAP
     6  recipient households the residential energy burden was 17.2%,
     7  nearly 2.5 times the average burden; and
     8     WHEREAS, Fifteen percent of LIHEAP grant funding is allocated
     9  to weatherization efforts; and
    10     WHEREAS, The Statewide waiting list for weatherization
    11  services is approximately 1.5 times the program's annual number
    12  of homes weatherized and is growing by approximately 400
    13  households per year; and
    14     WHEREAS, RECENT RISING ENERGY COSTS AND SLOW ECONOMIC          <--
    15  CONDITIONS RENDER IT CRUCIAL THAT ANY POTENTIAL FOR FRAUD WITHIN
    16  THE LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM BE ELIMINATED; AND
    17     WHEREAS, LIHEAP has nurtured an effective partnership between
    18  the Federal Government, state governments and the private
    19  sector; therefore be it
    20     RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the
    21  Commonwealth of Pennsylvania urge the President and the Congress
    22  of the United States to increase LIHEAP funding; and be it
    23  further
    24     RESOLVED, THAT THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PUT IN PLACE MEASURES    <--
    25  TO PREVENT FRAUD WITHIN THE PROGRAM OR DIRECT THE STATES TO
    26  ENACT FRAUD PREVENTION MEASURES THAT COULD INCLUDE ESTABLISHING
    27  VERIFICATION AND/OR PHOTO IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS FOR THOSE
    28  RECEIVING ASSISTANCE UNDER THE LOW-INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE
    29  PROGRAM; AND BE IT FURTHER
    30     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
    20080H0848R4441                  - 3 -     

     1  the President of the United States, to the presiding officers of
     2  each house of Congress and to each member of Congress from
     3  Pennsylvania.


















    G2L82AJM/20080H0848R4441         - 4 -