The good news for poor families who are worried about having enough money to stay warm this winter is that there will be more money to help them out. The bad news is that higher heating costs soon will gobble up that additional aid.
Under pressure from advocacy groups and in the face of higher fuel prices, Congress nearly doubled heating-assistance funding for low-
income households recently. Funds for the
Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, will be $5.1 billion for the current fiscal year, up from $2.6 billion. The House Appropriations Committee said 2 million more American households can be helped with the additional money, and the average per-household grant will increase from $350 to $550.
"Looking at the whole picture, this big increase is only going to offset part of a household's increased energy costs, with double-digit increases in all of the heating options," said Tom Stovall, director of Operation: New View Community Action Agency, which administers the program in Dubuque, Delaware and Jackson counties.
Government
Increases in heating assistance |
|---|
| How the tri-states will benefit from recent national legislation that increased low-income heating and energy assistance for the upcoming winter (including emergency contingency funds): * Iowa: $31 million more, or $77 million. * Illinois: $142 million more, or $266 million. * Wisconsin: $78 million more, or $148 million. The average heating assistance grant will increase from $350 to $550. Operation: New View Community Action Agency (Iowa counties of Dubuque, Delaware and Jackson) likely will receive about $3.2 million. |
"The real issue is the energy affordability gap. Energy is becoming less and less affordable for low-income families," Stovall said.
Emilie Daniels already has talked to more of those families this year than in previous years. She heads the Operation: New View office in Maquoketa. This season's heating assistance program has been operating only since the beginning of October, and more than 200 households already have applied for help. In October, only households with elderly or disabled members are eligible to apply. Starting Monday, Nov. 3,
all other low-income households can do so.
"Then the chutes will open wide, and our phones will be ringing constantly," predicted Daniels, who has interviewed a number of people seeking help with their heating bills for the first time.
"They start by saying they really don't want to have to do this, but they are scared and worried about how high fuel prices are going to go," she said. "People tell me they will go without food and medicine to keep warm," she added. Daniels predicted her office will process more than 1,000 applications for heating help this winter.
Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, said he does not want Iowans to have to choose between food and heat.
In a press release announcing the increased heating assistance funding, Harkin said, "Access to LIHEAP can mean the difference between a warm house and a warm meal. No family should have to make that choice."
Harkin is the chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that oversees heating assistance.
