Government shutdown delays an assistance program households use to heat homes : NPR
The shutdown delayed federal funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, which helps millions of people in the United States pay their heating or cooling bills.
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Jessica Hill/AP
As millions of Americans face a lack of food assistance due to federal government shutdownsome families also worry about how they will pay their heating bills in winter.
The shutdown delayed federal funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Programor LIHEAP, a program that helps 6 million homes Across the country, they pay their heating or cooling bills, buy fuel, or repair broken heaters.
For nearly a decade, Kindergarten teacher Justina Ray has relied on LIHEAP to heat her Pennsylvania home.
“My income itself is going down with all the holidays and school closures,” Ray said. Without LIHEAP, she said, her winter energy bills are “not affordable.”
Justina Ray depends on LIHEAP to help heat her home in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her two children and a cat named Flounder.
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Every year around this time, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sends most of LIHEAP’s annual funding to states to manage the program. But due to the closure, this did not happen.
Pennsylvania therefore delayed the start of its LIHEAP program per month, from the beginning of November to the beginning of December. It is one of several states, including new York, Maine, Minnesota And Wyomingwho have announced delays or disruptions to their programs due to the closure. Some others – like Alaska And Massachusetts – are using money left over from last season to provide emergency aid. Some, including Vermont And Connecticutprepare to use state funding to meet costs if necessary.
For Ray and millions of others, delays in LIHEAP funding could lead to difficult choices. Ray said she was reluctant to turn on the heat in the gray-shingled duplex just north of Philadelphia she shares with her two children.
“Without LIHEAP, I really don’t know what I’m going to do,” Ray said.
Pennsylvania has some money left from last year’s allocation, but it’s not enough to support the program, said Hoa Pham, deputy secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services’ Office of Income Maintenance. Pham said the state needs a guarantee that more federal funds will flow.
“I would consider it really detrimental for us to start a program and then lose funding and have to close it,” Pham said.
Concerns about delayed funds, after Trump fires LIHEAP staff
Even after the shutdown ends, it will likely take weeks for the federal government to release LIHEAP funds, said Mark Wolfe, director of the National Association of Energy Assistance Directorswhich represents the state agencies that administer the program. Wolfe worries the process will be slower than usual because earlier this year the Trump administration fired staff who administer LIHEAP. Wolfe said that while not all states will feel the effects, most will need federal funding to fully open their programs.
“[It will be] “We are very, very worried about this, because winter is starting.”
Department of Health and Human Services Press Secretary Emily Hilliard said in an emailed statement that once the government reopens, the agency will “work expeditiously” to administer LIHEAP funds.
Households prepare for sacrifices
Delay in federal funding for LIHEAP comes in the middle of the throttle rise And electricity bills and disruptions in other assistance programs, like SNAP, said Tony Reamesprofessor at the University of Michigan who studies energy justice and worked at the U.S. Department of Energy under the Biden administration.
“It’s kind of like a perfect storm, unfortunately,” Reames said.
Liz Marx, director of Pennsylvania Utility Law Projectis concerned about families whose utility service is currently cut off and who are relying on LIHEAP to restore services. She said LIHEAP is also crucial for people who heat their homes using delivered fuel, like oil, propane or wood, because they are not protected by the restrictions on utility shutoffs which many states institute during the winter.
In Pennsylvania, utility companies, including Ray’s, have promised to suspend cuts for certain customers in November due to the closure. Still, Marx said the delay in Pennsylvania’s LIHEAP program would likely force households to make difficult choices.
“I think a lot of people are going to sacrifice food, medicine, medical care and other things that are essential to life,” Marx said. “I think people are going to fall behind on their rent.”
Remington Steele-Caleñe plans to apply for LIHEAP this winter. The Philadelphia resident said he is currently unemployed and without any income because chronic illnesses make it difficult to leave the apartment. Until they can get help from LIHEAP to run their gas heat, Steele-Caleñe plans to rely on electric heat in her room. They are enrolled in an assistance program that caps their monthly electric bill.
“I’m just going to walk into a room,” Steele-Caleñe said. “I’ll close the door and stay there most of the time.”
Until recently, Justina Ray owed several hundred dollars on her energy bill. But after hearing his story, an NPR listener contacted him and paid him the overdue balance.
Ray called it a “blessing,” but said that in the future, she still expects to struggle to make ends meet. She said the LIHEAP delay and uncertainty around SNAP could force her to miss a car payment, skip holiday traditions with her children or travel less to visit family.
Ray said his family plans to bundle up rather than turn on the heat anytime soon.
