Blogs

On April 30, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education approved the fiscal year 2020 Labor-HHS-Education funding bill. This bill includes funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). LIHEAP is a federal block grant program that provides money to low-income individuals/families to help them meet their energy needs. The program receives an annual appropriation from Congress through the Labor and Health and Human Services (Labor-HHS) Appropriations bill. The funding level approved by the subcommittee is $3.84 billion and represents a $150 million increase over the fiscal year 2019 amount of $3.69 billion.

APGA signed on to a letter sent to congressional appropriations committees asking them to maintain or increase the amount of LIHEAP funding for fiscal year 2020, and is pleased with the proposed increase in funding. APGA continues to push for full funding at the authorized $5.1 billion level as LIHEAP assistance continues to play a critical role in helping low-income families meet their energy needs. Without LIHEAP funding assistance, many low-income families face the difficult choice between paying their energy bills versus paying for other necessities, such as healthcare, food and childcare.

The next steps will be approval in full committee and on the House floor. Ultimately there will need to be agreement between the House, Senate and President Trump before October 1, 2019. For questions on this article, please contact Todd Brady of APGA staff by phone at 202-464-2742 or by email at tbrady@apga.org.