As much of the country faced record-low temperatures on Monday, Rep. Tom Reed (R-N.Y.) announced that he would introduce bipartisan legislation to direct home heating assistance to low-income individuals who live in the coldest states.
“Winter months bring rising energy costs that low income families and individuals often struggle to meet,” Reed said. “My goal is to direct funds to those states that need it most. It’s important we care for these households where heating is not a luxury, it is a necessity.”
The Low Income Heating Improvement Act aims to restore the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program’s original intent: to provide assistance to the states that need it most.
LIHEAP has evolved into a general energy assistance program since its inception in 1981, Reed said, and changes to its funding formula have diverted funds away from the nation’s coldest states.
“The Low Income Heating Improvement Act restores the original formula so that funds are fairly directed first to those states that battle temperatures routinely below freezing and often much colder,” Reed said. “The old formula in recent years would have provided $100 million more for low income New York families to deal with heating needs than the new formula.”