For Immediate Release:
October 14, 2005
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.