THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
December 18, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
Statement by the President
President Clinton today directed the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) to release $155.65 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
(LIHEAP) emergency funds to all states to assist low-income households facing
continuing, substantial increases in home heating fuel prices.
On September 23, the
President directed the release of $400 million in LIHEAP emergency funds to
help states prepare to assist low-income households in coping with high fuel
prices during the winter. Since then, heating oil and natural gas prices have
continued to rise above earlier projections. The Department of Energy now projects
that heating oil prices this winter will be 29 percent higher than last winter,
and natural gas prices will be 40 percent higher than last winter.
Low-income households are especially burdened by fuel price increases, forcing
many families to forego other essential expenses in order to stay warm during
the cold months. Today's LIHEAP release will help states continue to meet the
needs of these families throughout the winter. In response to the President's
urging, many states have adopted higher income
eligibility limits in their LIHEAP programs and higher benefit levels in anticipation
of greater need for assistance this winter.
Today's release allocates funds to all states, factoring in states' reliance
on heating oil, natural gas and propane. The cold weather states of the Northeast
and Midwest will receive most of the funds. However, all states will receive
some assistance since low-income households throughout the country are affected
by fuel price increases. In some areas, electricity prices have risen since
electricity generation often is fueled by oil or natural gas.
LIHEAP helps eligible families pay the costs of heating and insulating their
homes in the winter and cooling their homes in the summer. In addition to the
$400 million release in September, HHS also released this summer a total of
$44.35 million to respond to the heat emergency in the South, and to energy
emergencies in Alaska and California. Today's release exhausts the LIHEAP emergency
funds made available under the FY 2000 Emergency Supplemental Act. The budget
agreement passed by Congress last week, and to be signed into law by the President,
will bring available LIHEAP funding to a total of $1.7 billion for FY 2001.
The state allocations of today's release follow. Funds are released to state
agencies, which then make them available to eligible low-income applicants in
their state. Separate direct funding will be provided to tribes.
STATE-BY-STATE BREAKDOWN OF
DECEMBER 18, 2000 LIHEAP ALLOCATIONS
| |
Amount
|
| Alabama |
$1,253,572
|
| Alaska |
$679,902
|
| Arizona |
$499,089
|
| Arkansas |
$968,677
|
| California |
$7,101,489
|
| Colorado |
$2,558,244
|
| Connecticut |
$3,408,837
|
| Delaware |
$437,710
|
| District
of Columbia |
$501,789
|
| Florida |
$1,431,750
|
| Georgia |
$1,622,369
|
| Hawaii |
$92,245
|
| Idaho |
$734,591
|
| Illinois |
$9,619,596
|
| Indiana |
$4,159,555
|
| Iowa |
$3,047,316
|
| Kansas |
$1,415,759
|
| Kentucky |
$1,846,297
|
| Louisiana |
$1,279,232
|
| Maine |
$2,001,000
|
| Maryland |
$2,473,980
|
| Massachusetts |
$6,771,642
|
| Michigan |
$9,324,484
|
| Minnesota |
$6,327,357
|
| Mississippi |
$1,094,362
|
| Missouri |
$3,572,188
|
| Montana |
$902,093
|
| Nebraska |
$1,516,222
|
| Nevada |
$253,182
|
| New
Hampshire |
$1,248,591
|
| New
Jersey |
$6,561,355
|
| New
Mexico |
$767,120
|
| New
York |
$21,305,626
|
| North
Carolina |
$2,530,293
|
| North
Dakota |
$943,442
|
| Ohio |
$8,237,908
|
| Oklahoma |
$1,134,421
|
| Oregon |
$1,353,962
|
| Pennsylvania |
$11,102,333
|
| Rhode
Island |
$1,163,012
|
| South
Carolina |
$935,903
|
| South
Dakota |
$816,363
|
| Tennessee |
$1,635,369
|
| Texas |
$3,269,894
|
| Utah |
$1,191,377
|
| Vermont |
$904,330
|
| Virginia |
$2,619,779
|
| Washington |
$2,072,745
|
| West
Virginia |
$1,269,788
|
| Wisconsin |
$5,771,270
|
| Wyoming |
$463,992
|
| |
|
| Tribes |
$1,351,200
|
| Territories |
$105,397
|
| |
|
| Total |
$155,650,000
|
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The page was last updated:
October 22, 2003
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