HUMAN SERVICES & WELFARE AND AGRICULTURE & ENERGY COMMITTEES UPDATE:
LOW INCOME HOME ENERGY ASSISTANCE PROGRAM (LIHEAP)

November 2, 2011

FY 2012 Appropriations Update
At the start of the new federal fiscal year on October 1st, Congress had not completed action on any FY 2012 appropriations legislation. Instead, Congress enacted a short term continuing resolution (CR), P.L.112-36, which keeps the federal government funded through November 18th. H.R. 2608 would continue FY2012 funding levels at the rate established in the Budget Control Act (P.L. 112-25). In an October 18th joint letter to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius 33 Senators requested the Secretary release LIHEAP funds as quickly and at as high of a level as possible. The Senators acknowledged that the CR did not provide certainty about the funding level for LIHEAP in FY 2012 but noted that the release of funds was critical for state agencies to begin the process of determining the level of heating assistance for this winter.

On October 28th, Secretary Sebelius announced the release of more than $1.7 billion in first quarter LIHEAP funds to states, tribes and territories under funding authorized by the continuing resolution. According to an HHS press release (http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2011pres/10/20111028a.html) funds being received by states through this release are for their immediate needs, but states may currently access an additional $136 million, if needed. The following is a state by state chart of allotments to states under this release.

Appropriations Legislation Advances Slowly in Both Chambers
The Senate Appropriations Committee favorably reported S. 159, the FY 2012 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education appropriations bill, for consideration by the full Senate on September 23^rd. The Senate legislation would provide $3.6 billion for the FY 2012 for the formula block grant and $200 million in emergency contingency funds.  The House Appropriations Committee released a draft proposal on the FY2012 Labor, Health, and Human Services and Education funding bill on September 29^th. The draft bill recommends $3.39 billion for the FY 2012 LIHEAP formula block grant, but no additional funds for emergency contingency.  

Both the Senate legislation and the House draft bill would represent a $1.1 billion decrease for the FY 2012 in regular LIHEAP block grant funding compared to FY 2011. One key difference between the two bills would be the manner in which state allocations are made under the formula block grant. Under the Senate legislation distribution would be through the Tier One (hold harmless) formula while the House draft bill would distribute funds through the statutory formula. The following chart compares FY 2011 allocations by state to estimated state allocations under the President’s FY 2012 request, the Senate committee passed legislation and the draft House bill is included at the end of this brief.

New Information Released from the Energy Information Agency (EIA)
The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) is the federal authority that collects, analyzes, and disseminates independent and impartial energy information. Several recent documents may be of interest to policy makers working on energy and energy assistance issues including the most recent EIA update to the Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook. EIA projects average household heating expenditures will increase for natural gas, propane, and heating oil by 3 percent, 7 percent, and 8 percent respectively this winter (October 1 to March 31) while electricity heating expenditures are projected to fall by less than one percent. Average expenditures for households that heat with oil are forecast to be higher than any previous winter. 

• For more information on the most recent Short-Term Energy and Winter Fuels Outlook go to: http://www.eia.gov/emeu/steo/pub/contents.html
• For additional information on EIA’s forecast concerning home heating oil go to: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=3450

EIA also examined a shift in focus for the Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve (NHHOR) following a decision by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The NHHOR was reduced to one million barrels and will now be focused on New England since DOE chose to end its prior practice of storing an additional one million barrels of NHHOR heating oil in New York harbor. DOE determined that this area is well supplied with commercial sulfur distillate (ULSD) inventories and also is served by several nearby refineries and a major pipeline that could quickly provide heating fuel. For more information go to: http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=3470.

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