Van Hollen, Manchin, Bipartisan Senators Urge HHS to Make Home Energy Assistance Funds Available to States

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) joined Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) along with a group of bipartisan Senators in urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to release funds for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) as quickly and at the highest level possible. LIHEAP is a critical program that helps low-income households and seniors on fixed incomes across West Virginia and America pay their energy bills while staying safe and warm during the winter months.

The Senators said in part, “As the main federal program that helps low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, LIHEAP provides critical assistance during the cold winter and hot summer months. October marks the start of the heating season for many states, and with temperatures already dropping, low-income families and seniors are feeling additional strains on their household budgets.”

Last year, between the annual appropriations bill, the American Rescue Plan and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Senators worked across the aisle to secure a total of $8 billion for LIHEAP nationwide.

“Given the alarming increase in energy costs that is forecast for this winter, we worked to secure an additional $1 billion in emergency funding for LIHEAP in the recently enacted short-term CR. It is critical that this funding…is distributed as quickly as possible so it reaches these households in time for the winter heating season,” the Senators continued. “As such, we request that you immediately release these LIHEAP funds so that low-income households do not have to choose between paying for heat and affording other necessities like food or medicine.”

The letter led by Senator Manchin was signed, in addition to Senator Van Hollen, by Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Angus King (I-Maine), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Patty Murray (D-W.Va.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-N.M.).

The full letter can be found here or below.

Dear Secretary Becerra:

With the passage of the Continuing Resolution (CR), we write to urge the Department of Health and Human Services to release Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) funds as quickly and at the highest level possible.

As the main federal program that helps low-income households and seniors with their energy bills, LIHEAP provides critical assistance during the cold winter and hot summer months. October marks the start of the heating season for many states, and with temperatures already dropping, low-income families and seniors are feeling additional strains on their household budgets.

Given the alarming increase in energy costs that is forecast for this winter, we worked to secure an additional $1 billion in emergency funding for LIHEAP in the recently enacted short-term CR. It is critical that this funding, as well as the significant base funding available under the CR, is distributed as quickly as possible so it reaches these households in time for the winter heating season.

As such, we request that you immediately release these LIHEAP funds so that low-income households do not have to choose between paying for heat and affording other necessities like food or medicine.

We look forward to continuing to work with you on this critical program, and thank you for your attention to our concerns and those of our constituents.

Sincerely,