PRIOR PRINTER'S NO. 4230 PRINTER'S NO. 4441
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 -