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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary


For Immediate Release February 16, 2000

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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