WikiLeaks Document Release http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 February 2, 2009 Congressional Research Service Report RS21605 Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): Estimated Allocations Libby Perl, Domestic Social Policy Division June 26, 2008 Abstract. This report contains two tables that show estimated LIHEAP allocations to the states. Table 1 shows state allocations at various levels: (1) the amount appropriated for FY2006, (2) the amount appropriated for FY2007, (3) the amount appropriated in FY2008, and (4) estimated state allocations based on the amount requested by the President for FY2009. Table 2 shows estimated state allocations at other hypothetical appropriations increments. Order Code RS21605 Updated June 26, 2008 Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): Estimated Allocations Libby Perl Analyst in Housing Domestic Social Policy Division http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 Summary The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a block grant program under which the federal government gives annual grants to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and commonwealths, and Indian tribal organizations to operate multi-component home energy assistance programs for needy households. This report contains two tables that show estimated LIHEAP allocations to the states. Table 1 shows state allocations at various levels: (1) the amount appropriated for FY2006, (2) the amount appropriated for FY2007, (3) the amount appropriated in FY2008, and (4) estimated state allocations based on the amount requested by the President for FY2009. Table 2 shows estimated state allocations at other hypothetical appropriations increments. For detailed information on how the LIHEAP formula allocates funds to the states, see CRS Report RL33275, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Allocation Rates: Legislative History and Current Law, by Libby Perl. This report will be updated when proposed funding levels change. Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) is a block grant program under which the federal government gives annual grants to states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories and commonwealths, and Indian tribal organizations to operate multi-component home energy assistance programs for needy households.1 Established in 1981 by Title XXVI of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (P.L. 97-35), LIHEAP has been reauthorized and amended several times, most recently in 2005, when the Energy Policy Act (P.L. 109-58) reauthorized annual regular LIHEAP funds at $5.1 billion per year from FY2005 to FY2007. The total LIHEAP appropriation in the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161) was approximately $2.57 billion. In 1 For additional information on LIHEAP, see CRS Report RL31865, The Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP): Program and Funding, by Libby Perl. CRS-2 FY2007 Congress appropriated $2.16 billion for the program (P.L. 110-5), and in FY2006, $3.161 billion was appropriated for LIHEAP (P.L. 109-149 and P.L. 109-204), the largest amount ever appropriated for the program. The LIHEAP statute provides for two types of program funding: regular funds and contingency funds. This report focuses on the distribution of regular funds, sometimes referred to as block grant funds, which are allotted to states according to methods prescribed by the LIHEAP statute.2 The allotment method may change depending on the amount of funds appropriated by Congress. In both FY2007 and FY2008, $1.98 billion was allocated to regular funds, and in FY2006, $2.48 billion of the LIHEAP appropriation was distributed as regular funds. The second type of LIHEAP funding, called contingency funds, may be released and allotted to one or more states at the discretion of the President and the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contingency funds may be released at any point in the fiscal year to meet additional home energy assistance needs created by a natural disaster or other emergency.3 Of the total appropriated for LIHEAP in FY2008, approximately $590 million was for contingency funds. LIHEAP Block Grant Funding Levels http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 In the FY2008 Consolidated Appropriations Act (P.L. 110-161), Congress appropriated $1.98 billion for the LIHEAP regular fund. P.L. 110-161 contained an across-the-board rescission of 1.747% that reduced the stated amounts appropriated for most Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education programs.4 The $1.98 billion appropriation for regular funds is the amount available after this rescission. The first distribution to the states of the regular funds appropriated in P.L. 110-161 occurred in December 2007. Then, on June 26, 2008, HHS announced that it would distribute funds that were thought to have been allocated to leveraging incentive and REACH grants in the FY2008 Appropriations Act as part of the regular fund formula grants. Since the early 1990s, leveraging incentive and REACH grants have been made to states and tribes on the basis of their ability to obtain non-LIHEAP resources for energy assistance (leveraging incentive grants) and for increasing energy efficiency of low- income households (REACH grants). In recent years, Congress has allocated around $27 million for these two funds. However, in FY2008, P.L. 110-161 did not appropriate funds for leveraging incentive and REACH grants. When HHS discovered that language to appropriate the funds was missing from the law, it released the $26.7 million that would otherwise have been distributed as leveraging incentive and REACH grants as part of the LIHEAP formula distribution. The addition of nearly $27 million to the formula grants caused the funds to be released under the "new" LIHEAP formula. For more information about how the LIHEAP formula distributes funds, see CRS Report RL33275, Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Allocation Rates: Legislative History and Current Law. 2 See Section 2604(a)-(d) of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Act (Title XXVI of P.L. 97-35), as amended. The section is codified at 42 U.S.C. §8623(a)-(d). 3 Depending on how Congress appropriates them, contingency funds may remain available for distribution in more than one fiscal year or they may expire with the fiscal year for which they were appropriated. 4 See Division G, Section 528 of P.L. 110-161. CRS-3 Column (c) of Table 1 shows the amount of funds that were initially allocated to the states in FY2008 before HHS discovered that the leveraging incentive grants had not been appropriated in P.L. 110-161. Column (d) shows the total distributed to the states on June 26, 2008, which includes the $26.7 million in leveraging incentive grants. Column (b) of Table 1 shows the amounts allocated to the states in FY2007. For FY2009, the President has requested a total of $2 billion for LIHEAP; of this amount, $1.7 billion would be allocated to regular funds. Column (e) of Table 1 shows estimated allocations to the states at an appropriation of $1.7 billion. Column (a) shows the amount allotted to each state in FY2006, when $2.48 billion was appropriated for LIHEAP regular funds. Following Table 1, Table 2 shows estimated allocations to the states at various hypothetical appropriations levels. These amounts are $1.75 billion, $2.0 billion, $2.25 billion, $2.5 billion, $2.75 billion, $3.0 billion, $4.0 billion, and $5.1 billion (the amount at which LIHEAP regular funds were last authorized in P.L. 109-58). Table 1. LIHEAP Actual State Block Grant Fund Allotments for FY2006, FY2007, and FY2008, and Estimated Allotments for FY2009 ($ in millions) http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 FY2008 FY2008 FY2009 Est. FY2006 FY2007 Allotments Allotments Allotments at Actual Actual Prior to After President's Allotments: Allotments: 6-26-08: 6-26-08: Request: $2.48 billiona $1.98 billionb $1.98 billionc $1.98 billiond $1.7 billione State (a) (b) (c) (d) (d) Alabama 31.310 16.769 16.774 17.111 14.365 Alaska 12.572 10.704 10.707 10.828 9.169 Arizona 15.142 8.110 8.112 8.275 6.947 Arkansas 22.765 12.796 12.799 13.057 10.961 California 153.184 89.963 89.985 91.797 77.062 Colorado 31.729 31.367 31.375 31.729 26.869 Connecticut 47.809 40.920 40.930 41.754 35.052 Delaware 10.141 5.431 5.433 5.542 4.652 District of Columbia 7.852 6.355 6.356 6.484 5.444 Florida 49.542 26.534 26.541 27.075 22.729 Georgia 39.170 20.979 20.985 21.407 17.971 Hawaii 2.555 2.113 2.113 2.137 1.810 Idaho 14.370 12.235 12.238 12.376 10.481 Illinois 145.959 113.259 113.287 114.565 97.017 Indiana 53.986 51.280 51.293 51.872 43.927 Iowa 36.762 36.343 36.352 36.762 31.131 Kansas 26.798 16.690 16.695 17.031 14.297 Kentucky 44.347 26.686 26.693 27.230 22.859 Louisiana 32.010 17.144 17.148 17.494 14.686 Maine 26.815 26.509 26.516 26.815 22.708 Maryland 58.499 31.332 31.340 31.971 26.839 Massachusetts 82.797 81.853 81.873 82.797 70.115 Michigan 108.770 107.529 107.556 108.770 92.109 Minnesota 78.363 77.469 77.488 78.363 66.359 Mississippi 26.843 14.377 14.381 14.670 12.315 Missouri 59.541 45.240 45.251 45.762 38.752 Montana 16.856 14.351 14.355 14.517 12.293 Nebraska 21.109 17.973 17.978 18.180 15.396 Nevada 7.112 3.809 3.810 3.887 3.263 New Hampshire 18.197 15.493 15.497 15.672 13.271 New Jersey 77.540 75.988 76.007 76.865 65.091 CRS-4 FY2008 FY2008 FY2009 Est. FY2006 FY2007 Allotments Allotments Allotments at Actual Actual Prior to After President's Allotments: Allotments: 6-26-08: 6-26-08: Request: $2.48 billiona $1.98 billionb $1.98 billionc $1.98 billiond $1.7 billione State (a) (b) (c) (d) (d) New Mexico 11.925 10.153 10.156 10.360 8.697 New York 250.974 248.112 248.173 250.974 212.531 North Carolina 69.038 36.976 36.985 37.730 31.674 North Dakota 18.310 15.590 15.594 15.770 13.354 Ohio 122.259 100.194 100.219 101.350 85.826 Oklahoma 28.780 15.415 15.418 15.729 13.204 Oregon 24.591 24.311 24.317 24.591 20.825 Pennsylvania 134.810 133.273 133.306 134.810 114.161 Rhode Island 15.825 13.473 13.477 13.629 11.541 South Carolina 24.867 13.318 13.322 13.590 11.408 South Dakota 14.871 12.662 12.665 12.808 10.846 Tennessee 46.363 27.033 27.039 27.584 23.156 Texas 82.421 44.144 44.155 45.044 37.814 Utah 17.120 14.576 14.580 14.745 12.486 Vermont 13.639 11.613 11.616 11.747 9.947 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 Virginia 71.259 38.166 38.175 38.944 32.692 Washington 40.450 39.988 39.998 40.450 34.254 West Virginia 23.818 17.660 17.665 17.935 15.128 Wisconsin 70.538 69.733 69.750 70.538 59.733 Wyoming 6.854 5.836 5.838 5.903 4.999 Total 2,449.16 1,949.83 1,950.314 1,977.027 1,670.213 Source: Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) final allocations for FY2006, FY2007 and FY2008. Estimated allotments for FY2009 are CRS estimates based on factors provided by HHS. Note: These estimates take into account current program practice where HHS sets aside funds out of the regular LIHEAP fund appropriation for the territories, training and technical assistance, leveraging incentive grants, and the Residential Energy Assistance Challenge Option Program (REACH). This has implications for the total amount of funds going directly to the states. For example, an appropriation of $1.98 billion is estimated to result in $1.95 billion in regular LIHEAP funds going directly to the states, after the amounts for these set-asides are subtracted from the total appropriation. a. The total regular fund appropriation for FY2006 was $2.48 billion, $1.98 billion of which was appropriated in P.L. 109-149, and $500 million in P.L. 109-204. Initially, P.L. 109-149 appropriated $2.0 billion for regular funds, but the amount was subject to a 1% across-the-board rescission, resulting in a $1.98 billion appropriation (P.L. 109-148). In addition, both training and technical assistance and the leveraging incentive and REACH funds were reduced by 1% in column (a). b. Congress approved a year-long continuing resolution for FY2007 (P.L. 110-5), which was enacted on February 15, 2007. The law provided that LIHEAP receive the same amount of funds for FY2007 that was appropriated for FY2006 in P.L. 109-149, as reduced by a 1% rescission (P.L. 109-148). c. The initial allotments for FY2008 were slightly greater than for FY2007, despite the similar appropriations levels, due to a 1.747% across-the-board rescission for most Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education programs. See P.L. 110-161, Division G, Section 528. This meant that set asides for leveraging incentive and REACH grants, and for training and technical assistance, were slightly reduced from FY2007 levels. d. On June 26, 2008, HHS released an additional $26.7 million in formula grants to the states. These funds had been set aside for leveraging incentive and REACH grants until HHS realized that Congress had not appropriated these funds in P.L. 110-161. As a result, distributions were re-calculated under the "new" LIHEAP formula, and additional funds were provided to the states. e. For FY2009, the President's budget would allocate $27.225 million for leveraging incentive and REACH grants, and $297,000 for training and technical assistance. The estimates at $1.7 billion assume that these amounts would be set aside out of the regular LIHEAP fund. CRS-5 Table 2. LIHEAP Estimated State Allotments at Hypothetical Block Grant Fund Appropriations Levels ($ in millions) $1.75 billion $2.0 billion $2.25 billion $2.5 billion $2.75 billion $3.0 billion $4.0 billion $5.1 billion State (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) Alabama 14.792 16.939 25.470 36.021 47.488 57.336 76.627 97.847 Alaska 9.442 10.812 11.392 12.673 13.955 15.236 20.363 26.002 Arizona 7.153 8.192 12.318 17.420 22.966 27.814 39.351 50.249 Arkansas 11.287 12.925 19.435 26.709 29.410 32.111 42.914 54.799 California 79.353 90.872 126.272 140.478 154.684 168.889 225.712 288.218 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 Colorado 27.668 31.684 31.729 31.729 34.791 37.986 50.766 64.825 Connecticut 36.094 41.333 41.392 42.753 47.077 51.400 68.694 87.717 Delaware 4.791 5.486 8.249 10.734 11.819 12.905 17.246 22.022 District of Columbia 5.605 6.419 6.857 7.629 8.400 9.171 12.257 15.652 Florida 23.405 26.802 40.301 56.997 75.140 91.004 134.996 175.001 Georgia 18.505 21.191 31.864 45.065 59.410 71.952 106.735 138.365 Hawaii 1.864 2.134 2.248 2.501 2.754 3.007 4.019 5.132 Idaho 10.792 12.359 13.021 14.486 15.951 17.416 23.275 29.721 Illinois 99.901 114.403 114.565 118.401 130.374 142.347 190.240 242.922 Indiana 45.232 51.798 51.872 54.540 60.055 65.571 87.632 111.899 Iowa 32.057 36.710 36.762 36.762 36.762 36.762 43.050 54.971 Kansas 14.722 16.859 24.526 27.285 30.044 32.803 43.840 55.980 Kentucky 23.539 26.956 37.463 41.677 45.892 50.107 66.965 85.509 Louisiana 15.122 17.317 26.039 36.826 46.325 50.579 67.597 86.316 Maine 23.383 26.777 26.815 26.815 26.815 26.815 28.625 36.551 Maryland 27.636 31.648 47.588 59.764 65.808 71.851 96.026 122.618 Massachusetts 72.199 82.680 82.797 82.797 82.797 90.332 120.724 154.156 Michigan 94.847 108.616 108.770 114.820 126.431 138.042 184.486 235.575 Minnesota 68.332 78.251 78.363 78.363 78.363 78.363 78.363 90.633 Mississippi 12.682 14.522 21.837 27.293 30.053 32.813 43.853 55.996 Missouri 39.904 45.697 55.406 61.639 67.872 74.105 99.038 126.464 Montana 12.659 14.496 15.273 16.991 18.709 20.428 27.300 34.861 Nebraska 15.853 18.155 19.127 21.279 23.431 25.583 34.190 43.658 CRS-6 $1.75 billion $2.0 billion $2.25 billion $2.5 billion $2.75 billion $3.0 billion $4.0 billion $5.1 billion State (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) (h) Nevada 3.360 3.847 5.785 8.182 10.786 13.064 19.379 25.121 New Hampshire 13.666 15.650 16.488 18.343 20.198 22.053 29.472 37.634 New Jersey 67.026 76.756 76.865 76.865 77.141 84.225 112.563 143.734 New Mexico 8.956 10.256 13.934 15.501 17.069 18.636 24.906 31.804 New York 218.850 250.618 250.974 250.974 250.974 252.031 336.827 430.102 North Carolina 32.615 37.350 56.161 78.646 86.599 94.552 126.364 161.357 North Dakota 13.751 15.747 16.591 18.457 20.324 22.190 29.656 37.869 Ohio 88.377 101.207 101.350 111.388 122.652 133.916 178.972 228.534 http://wikileaks.org/wiki/CRS-RS21605 Oklahoma 13.597 15.570 23.412 33.111 39.479 43.105 57.607 73.560 Oregon 21.444 24.557 24.591 24.879 27.395 29.911 39.974 51.044 Pennsylvania 117.555 134.619 134.810 134.810 140.646 153.563 205.229 262.062 Rhode Island 11.884 13.610 14.339 15.952 17.565 19.178 25.631 32.728 South Carolina 11.748 13.453 20.228 28.608 37.715 42.282 56.508 72.157 South Dakota 11.168 12.790 13.475 14.991 16.507 18.023 24.086 30.756 Tennessee 23.844 27.306 41.058 50.724 55.854 60.983 81.501 104.071 Texas 38.938 44.590 67.047 94.823 125.009 151.400 224.589 291.143 Utah 12.857 14.724 15.513 17.258 19.003 20.748 27.729 35.407 Vermont 10.243 11.730 12.358 13.749 15.139 16.529 22.091 28.208 Virginia 33.664 38.551 57.967 69.555 76.589 83.622 111.757 142.705 Washington 35.272 40.392 40.450 40.450 44.062 48.109 64.295 82.100 West Virginia 15.577 17.839 21.296 23.692 26.087 28.483 38.066 48.608 Wisconsin 61.509 70.438 70.538 70.538 70.538 70.538 83.632 106.792 Wyoming 5.148 5.895 6.211 6.910 7.608 8.307 11.102 14.176 Total 1,719.868 1,969.529 2,219.191 2,468.852 2,718.513 2,968.175 3,966.821 5,065.331 Source: Congressional Research Service (CRS) calculations based on factors provided by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in May 2007. Note: For each of these estimates, $27.5 million for leveraging incentive grants, $300,000 for training and technical assistance, and the estimated grants to the territories have been removed from the total hypothetical grant amounts.