For Immediate
Release: October 14, 2005
Senator Johnnie Crutchfield
Chairman Crutchfield Calls Special Appropriations
Meeting to Discuss Additional LIHEAP Funding
Chairman Johnnie
Crutchfield called Friday for a special fact-finding meeting
of the full Senate Appropriations Committee to consider methods
by which the state can augment the federal Low Income Home Energy
Assistance Program next.
“Skyrocketing energy prices will hit home for many Oklahoma
families when the cold winter months ahead drive up the cost of
their home heating bills,” said Crutchfield, D-Ardmore.
“By gathering information now, the Senate can present its
findings to the governor in November and be prepared to act when
the next session of the Legislature convenes in February.”
Crutchfield has scheduled the meeting for 1 p.m. Wednesday, October
26.
LIHEAP is a federally-funded program to help eligible low income
households meet their home heating and/or cooling needs.
Predictions are that natural gas prices could set new record highs
in the coming months, perhaps as much as $15 per thousand cubic
feet (Mcf). By comparison, natural gas prices topped out at $8
Mcf last winter. Heating bills are expected to be as much as
50 percent higher as a result of those higher prices, Crutchfield
said.
“If we have a particularly cold winter, many families could
have to choose between keeping warm and buying groceries,”
said Appropriations Committee Vice Chairman Robert Kerr. “Working
Oklahomans are already struggling to make ends meet with gasoline
prices remaining above $2 a gallon. By adding state funds to the
federal dollars in the LIHEAP program, we can ease the burden
on working families.”
Oklahoma received about $12 million from the federal government
for LIHEAP last year. Even though the new federal fiscal year
began Oct. 1, Congress has yet to pass the budget bill containing
LIHEAP funding so the state does not yet know how much it will
receive for the program from the federal government.
Senator Bernest Cain, chairman of the Appropriations Sub-Committee
on Health and Human Services, said the full committee will seek
input from the Department of Human Services and the American Association
of Retired Persons and other organizations to determine the severity
of the need for LIHEAP funds in Oklahoma.
Crutchfield and Kerr said the committee will also explore the
availability of funds for a supplemental appropriation to DHS
early next session for distribution to Oklahoma families as soon
as possible.
