The summer of 2021 was brutal to residents of the Pacific Northwest. Washington, a local city from Portland, Oregon to Kiraute, has broken temperature records Several degrees. In Washington, when the shearing heat wave settled in the state, 125 people died from heat-related illnesses such as strokes and heart attacks, making it the most deadly weather event in the state’s history.
Officials have made significant changes to the state’s energy assistance program as they recognized the disproportionate impact of heatwaves on low-income and barren people who have no access to air conditioners. Since the early 1980s, states, tribes and territories have received annual funding to help low-income people pay their electricity bills and install energy efficiency upgrades through the Low-Income Housing Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP). Congress has adopted it in the state in the late fall, funding for the program, and for the US Department of Health and Human Services, or HHS. Until the summer of 2021, the initiative provided heating assistance primarily during the cold winter months of Washington. However, that year, The program has been expanded Covers cooling costs.
Last year, Congress allocated $4.1 billion for the effort, and HHS paid 90% of the funds. However, the program is currently at risk.
Earlier this month, HHS, led by Chief Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., fired 10,000 employees, including around 12 people who were tasked with running the liheap. The agency was supposed to send another $378 million this year, but those funds are now stuck in federal funding without staff needing it to pay.
Liheap helps around 6 million people survive the frozen winters and fierce summers. Many face greater risks now that this year’s warm season already brings unusually high temperatures. Phoenix residents are expected to have them First 100 degree height Anytime now.
“We’re seeing a really warm weather state in real life with the funds needed to help people in the extreme heat,” said one HHS employee who worked on the Liheap program and was recently fired. They said losing people who ran the program was “absolutely catastrophic.” Agency staff have become extremely important in increasingly unstable weather patterns across the country as they helped states and tribes understand the flexibility to effectively serve people.
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In a typical year, when Congress allocates Liheap funds, HHS distributes money in the fall during the cold season. The state and other entities then make critical decisions about how much they spend in the winter and how much they can save in the summer.
The need for LIHEAP funds is always greater than what is available. Only about one person in five households that meet program eligibility requirements will receive funds. As a result, states often run out of money by summer. At least a quarter of Liheap’s grants have run out of money at some point in the year, the former employee said.
“The remaining 10% is extremely important to establishing cooling assistance during the hot summer months, which is becoming more and more important,” said Katrina Metzler, executive director of the National Energy and Utility Affortability Coalition, a group of nonprofits and utilities that promote the needs of low-income people. “If Liheap disappears, people will die in their homes. That’s the most important issue. It saves people.”
In addition to Washington, many other states have expanded their programs to offer both heating and cooling programs. Arizona, Texas and Oregon are currently on offer Cooling support throughout the year.
HHS staff play an important role in running Liheap. They assess how much each state, tribe, and territory receives. They set rules about how you can use your money. They audit local programs to ensure that the funds are spent as intended. All of this can be lost.
However, according to Metzler, there are several steps HHS can take to ensure that HHS continues to manage the program in accordance with Congress’ intentions. First and most obviously, agents can bring back those who have been fired. Other than that, government agencies can move programs to another department within HHS and contract responsibility.
But in the end, Metzler will need to continue to distribute Liheap funds, allowing those in need to access it. “Replacing a federal low-income housing energy assistance program is almost impossible,” she said. “We can’t sell enough baked goods to replace them.”
