STATE LAWMAKERS PROD CONGRESS FOR MORE HOME HEATING AID

 Harrisburg, October 4 -- With the federal Energy Information Administration predicting that heating costs will be 77 percent higher than last winter, four Senate Democratic lawmakers today said they are introducing a Senate resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to provide more home heating aid to Pennsylvania.

 The resolution is being jointly sponsored by Senators Vincent Hughes (D-Phila.), Jay Costa Jr. (D-Allegheny), Anthony H. Williams (D-Phila.) and Connie Williams (D-Montgomery).

 “The path of devastation from the Gulf Coast hurricanes will reach far beyond the storm track,” Costa said. “The storms have spurred nationwide heating fuel hikes that cry out for a nationwide federal response.”

 Hughes added, “As a result of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and its effects on energy prices, we are seeking and need additional federal funds not just for Pennsylvania but nationwide to help poor families survive sky-high heating bills this winter.”

 Anthony Williams, who also sponsored legislation that would allow taxpayers to make a donation to the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) on their state income tax forms, said yearly funding shortfalls already “deprive more than 70 percent of eligible Pennsylvania households from obtaining home heating aid.”

 Pointing to the fact that Pennsylvania is slated to receive the same $120 million in federal LIHEAP money it received last year, Connie Williams added, “It is time that our federal government understand that it is unconscionable to freeze LIHEAP funding to the states in a year when elderly and low income families face massive heating bill increases.”

 Backing their plea for additional federal LIHEAP dollars, Gov. Ed Rendell has called on Congress to distribute an additional $1.276 billion in emergency LIHEAP funding to the states.

 “Congress must recognize that covering dramatic increases in natural gas and heating oil prices will pose an immense challenge for our citizens as winter arrives,” Rendell stated in a letter to several federal lawmakers.

The Democratic Senators have also called for using $80 million in state surplus dollars to supplement LIHEAP to help an additional 240,000 Pennsylvania households pay their heating bills this winter.

 In calling to use supplemental state funds to make more families eligible for LIHEAP, the Democratic lawmakers said Pennsylvania is the only state in the northeast corridor that does not use state and/or local funds to draw additional federal dollars for LIHEAP.

 By contrast, the surrounding states use state and local funds to access additional federal dollars for the LIHEAP program.  New Jersey uses approximately $140 million in state funds, New York uses $77 million, Maryland uses $8 million and West Virginia uses $3 million to access additional federal dollars for the LIHEAP program.

 The lawmakers added that a new law that allows utility companies to shut off service easier would only make this winter far worse on low-income households.