THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
President Clinton today, directed HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala to release an additional $120 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) emergency funds for states, territories and tribes due to continuing increases in home heating fuel prices, for a total of $295 million released this winter to help affected low income families. This action releases the remainder of funds currently available under the LIHEAP program.
Today, the President also announced that he is sending Congress an emergency supplemental request for $600 million to provide additional funds for LIHEAP through the end of this fiscal year. These two sources of funds should enable the seriously affected states to provide assistance to all eligible households to help cope with higher fuel costs.
President Clinton also called upon states to provide assistance to as many families as possible who are eligible under Federal law. Currently, many states choose to use a cut-off for eligibility of approximately $25,000 in annual income for a family of four. The President is calling on states to use the highest income standard available under federal law. This is based on state median income and can extend as high as approximately $40,000 in annual income for a family of four. In addition, HHS will take steps at the Federal level to make it easier for states to use available funds to serve additional families.
The $120 million in funds released today are in addition to the $130 million HHS released to all states, territories, and tribes on February 10th and the $45 million released to eleven states on January 25th to address increased heating costs. Since February 10th, fuel prices have continued to climb -- by more than 80 percent compared to last year in some states-- causing significant hardship for low-income families throughout the country.
The President's $600 million supplemental emergency request will be used to address heating costs associated with oil price increases and will be available as a reserve for emergency funding in the event of a severe summer heat wave. There have been deadly heat waves in each of the last two summers. LIHEAP helps eligible families pay the costs of heating and insulating their homes in the winter, and cooling their homes in the summer. Approximately four million low-income households receive assistance each year.
In addition to the LIHEAP action, the President also directed Secretary of Energy Bill Richardson to conduct a 60-day study of opportunities for diversifying energy supplies in the Northeast, including investigating the potential benefits of encouraging factories and other fuel users to switch to other fuels.
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LIHEAP State Allocations February 16, 2000 The state allocations follow. These allocations reflect the fact
that some states have been more significantly affected by increased fuel prices than others in recent weeks. These totals include funds that will be provided directly to tribes in these states.
Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) FY 2000 State Contingency Allotments State February 16th Prior Total Release Releases Release Alabama 1,101,257 730,048 1,831,305 Alaska 363,208 2,936,034 3,299,242 Arizona 0 353,060 353,060 Arkansas 97,040 557,061 654,101 California 0 3,916,496 3,916,496 Colorado 0 1,365,560 1,365,560 Connecticut 5,766,652 6,186,268 11,952,920 Delaware 1,221,782 1,183,355 2,405,137 Dist. of Col. 116,356 276,658 393,014 Florida 1,166,000 1,155,154 2,321,154 Georgia 1,263,686 913,327 2,177,013 Hawaii 0 91,977 91,977 Idaho 11,850 532,659 544,509 Illinois 0 4,930,667 4,930,667 Indiana 0 2,232,467 2,232,467 Iowa 493,463 1,582,180 2,075,643 Kansas 0 726,608 726,608 Kentucky 528,131 1,161,769 1,689,900 Louisiana 0 746,362 746,362 Maine 6,377,588 11,441,506 17,819,094 Maryland 2,988,015 3,164,769 6,152,784 Massachusetts 13,108,448 13,653,916 26,762,364 Michigan 0 4,681,236 4,681,236 Minnesota 1,306,239 3,612,513 4,918,752 Mississippi 1,127,942 625,903 1,753,845 Missouri 382,605 1,969,501 2,352,106 Montana 0 624,776 624,776 Nebraska 59,109 782,449 841,558 Nevada 0 165,822 165,822 New Hampshire 3,033,627 6,086,898 9,120,525 New Jersey 9,970,935 15,590,834 25,561,769 New Mexico 0 442,007 442,007 New York 36,643,695 36,986,065 73,629,760 North Carolina 4,784,818 3,948,115 8,732,933 North Dakota 351,119 802,567 1,153,686 Ohio 0 4,361,912 4,361,912 Oklahoma 0 671,064 671,064 Oregon 0 1,058,367 1,058,367 Pennsylvania 16,139,809 16,987,005 33,126,814 Rhode Island 2,806,586 3,214,145 6,020,731 South Carolina 1,814,762 1,053,634 2,868,396 South Dakota 538,939 798,978 1,337,917 Tennessee 0 1,176,847 1,176,847 Texas 0 1,921,791 1,921,791 Utah 0 634,579 634,579 Vermont 1,484,153 2,366,780 3,850,933 Virginia 4,099,875 3,683,634 7,783,509 Washington 0 1,740,868 1,740,868 West Virginia 28,970 768,830 797,800 Wisconsin 823,341 3,035,793 3,859,134 Wyoming 0 254,072 254,072 Puerto Rico 0 103,637 103,637 Outer Pacific 0 7,529 7,529 Virgin Islands 0 3,948 3,948 $120,000,000 180,000,000 *300,000,000
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