With the start of winter only weeks away and as state agencies prepare their energy assistance programs, Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) led 33 senators in calling for the Obama administration to quickly release funds for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP).

“We request that you release funds as quickly and at as high of a level as possible in order to allow states and low-income households prepare for what will be a challenging winter,” the senators wrote in a letter Wednesday to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

“The president signed into law a continuing resolution that provides funding for federal programs through Nov. 18. We recognize that this does not provide certainty about the ultimate funding level for the LIHEAP program for fiscal year (FY) 2012. It is critical, however, that the pertinent state agencies begin the process of determining the level of heating assistance [to households] this winter,” they said.

LIHEAP is a block grant program under which the federal government gives states annual funds to help the needy to pay their heating and air conditioning bills. The program currently helps 8.9 million families heat their homes, a 35% hike since 2008. The program also provides cooling assistance to vulnerable populations, such as the elderly.

The American Gas Association has called on Congress to fully fund LIHEAP, which is currently appropriated under a continuing resolution that expires in mid-November. Despite the fact that the FY 2009 and FY 2010 levels for LIHEAP were funded at the fully authorized amount of $5.1 billion and FY 2011 was funded at $4.7 billion, FY 2012 could only be funded at $2.57 billion. If states are forced to operate at the $2.57 billion level, it would mean a roughly 50% cut to their home heating assistance budgets.

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