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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