AGA Chairman Tom Skains spoke on Capitol Hill today alongside Members of Congress and activists to urge Congress to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) so that low-income Americans are not faced with the decision to “heat or eat.” LIHEAP, a program that has been woefully underfunded, assists disadvantaged Americans in paying their heating and cooling bills. Especially during this downturned economy, securing funds for this program is critical.
Last week AGA’s chairman Tom Skains spoke about the National Fuel Funds Network’s LIHEAP Action Day. There’s a lot of excitement at the AGA offices this morning because that day has arrived. Everyone dressed just a little more nicely than usual and you can sense a different smell in the air as we welcome these volunteers into our offices. The volunteers began flowing in early for a quick breakfast and briefing of the day’s events.
For those that don’t know, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) provides critical dollars to low-income Americans struggling to heat and cool their homes, a particularly daunting task in the face of an economic downturn. Approximately 200 nonprofits and utility representatives are gathering today on Capitol Hill to advocate for LIHEAP’s inclusion in the stimulus bill, as well as $5.1 billion for FY 2010. The timing couldn’t be more crucial as the Senate removed $1 billion in funding in their version of the Economic Recovery bill.
One of the things that really struck me is as I was grazing after the morning talk, I ran into David Fox, executive director of the National Low Income Energy Consortium, and he was saying something to the effect of, I don’t think many people stop to think how close they are to being in the position to need this type of assistance, especially in these economic times. That’s probably more accurate than most of us want to acknowledge.
Recently, AGA’s chairman Tom Skains spoke before the New York Society of Security Analysts. While he was in New York, Tom had a chance to sit down with Bloomberg’s Kathleen Hays to talk about the outlook for natural gas prices, supply and demand, and a few other topics. Bloomberg posted the video. We also posted it in the AGA YouTube channel. If you know of any interesting video that should be a part of our channel, email me at dgibson at aga.org or leave a link in the comments.
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Do you know what LIHEAP is? LIHEAP stands for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program. Simply put, LIHEAP provides financial assistance to low income households having trouble paying their home energy bills. Never has this type of program been more important than in these trying economic times.
That is why, as this year’s chairman of AGA, I’m so honored to be involved in the National Fuel Fund Network’s “Action Day” for LIHEAP, which is held annually in February and this year observes its 25th anniversary. The mission of the National Fuel Fund Network (NFFN) is as simple as it is important – to bring together utilities and non profits to explain to our nation’s leaders why they MUST maintain the highest possible levels of funding for LIHEAP.
On February 11, NFFN volunteers from around the country – volunteers who have come to the nation’s capital to speak on behalf of millions of Americans who can’t speak for themselves – will once again take this message to those leaders. LIHEAP funding must be maintained at the highest level possible so that hard-working but vulnerable families DO NOT have to choose between heating and eating, or between heating or buying medicine, or between keeping their homes WARM and simply keeping their homes.
The 110th Congress appropriated, and President Bush signed into law, a record $5.1 billion for LIHEAP for fiscal year 2009, which will help an additional 7 million households pay their monthly energy bills. President Obama has said that he will increase that funding (section under protect and honor seniors). Those are great victories and a testament to the dedication and hard work of everyone involved. But we can’t stop because in recent years, due to funding shortages, only about 15 percent of those eligible for LIHEAP received assistance. Given our current economic challenges that percentage is very likely to get worse.
LIHEAP is an especially important issue to me and I will continue to make support for it among my highest priorities. I urge you to learn more about LIHEAP and more about what you can do on Action Day to help. Local activities include press conferences, Congressional call-ins, petition drives and local or state government proclamations. Visit this link to find out what you can do in your area. You’ll be glad you did.
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