The House and Senate conferees today agreed to a full year appropriation for LIHEAP as well as other programs. The LIHEAP agreement will increase federal fiscal year (FFY) 2020 funding by $50 million to $3.74 billion. In addition, the bill includes a new hold harmless designed to address fluctuations in the formula that would provide that no state would receive less than 97 percent of the amount of funds they received in the prior fiscal year. In the event that a state would receive less than 97 percent, funds will be reallocated from other states whose funding was not reduced below the 97 percent threshold.
In addition, the committee report requires that HHS produce within 120 days a publicly available report evaluating the program’s formula and allocations of funding among States, including an assessment of available data, how the formula currently addresses annual fluctuations in formula factors, and the percentage of eligible households served, average assistance amount, and percentage of home energy costs covered by that amount by State. The report should be available in mid-April.
Bill Text – LIHEAP is on page 88.
Committee Report – LIHEAP is on page 107.
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