Rep. Bowman, Sen. Markey Introduce Heating and Cooling Relief Act to Transform Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program

Press Release

Today, Congressman Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Senator Edward Markey (D-Mass.) introduced the Heating and Cooling Relief Act, legislation toinvest in and expand the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) to universalize energy assistance. Currently, it is estimated that only 16 percent of households eligible for LIHEAP are actually served.

"There is no reason why, in the richest nation on Earth, people in our communities should be forced to choose between staying warm in the winter or cool in the summer and being able to make rent or put food on the table," said Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16). "Senator Markey and I are working toward an America that respects our collective humanity and our Heating and Cooling Relief Act makes it so that every family can afford their energy bills. This is a racial and economic justice issue, with Black, Latino and Indigenous households all experiencing disproportionately high energy burdens. The lack of energy assistance is also a public health crisis, with high energy burdens associated with a greater risk for respiratory diseases and heat strokes. The fact is that no one, anywhere in this country, should have to resort to using their stoves or turning on space heaters because of exorbitantly high bills. This legislation is a bold approach to energy assistance that meets the moment by making energy assistance much more accessible to tens of millions more people and I am proud to have a partner in Senator Markey as we take on this fight."

"Access to life-saving heating and cooling is a basic human right that ensures our health and safety and should not be reserved only for those who can afford it," said Senator Ed Markey (D-Mass.). "This winter, families should not have to choose between paying bills or suffering chills. I am grateful that Congressman Bowman and I are fighting to make sure that home energy funding--a critical lifeline for families throughout the country--will be available to all of those who need it. Our Heating and Cooling Relief Act would provide LIHEAP funding to millions more Americans and ensure that the program has all the support it needs to enhance outreach efforts and serve all eligible households. The bill also takes steps to reduce the energy burdens of LIHEAP recipients and cut down our fossil fuel use by increasing investments in weatherization. The Heating and Cooling Relief Act is the ambitious and comprehensive legislation we need to help ensure the health and safety of American families and support a just transition away from fossil fuel consumption."

Specifically, the Heating and Cooling Relief Act:
-Increases annual funding for LIHEAP to $40 billion and expands eligibility to ensure that no household pays more than three percent of its annual income on energy costs;
-Minimizes the barriers to administering and applying LIHEAP by allowing households to self-attest to eligibility criteria; increases g the administrative cap for outreach, technological and staffing purposes; and ensures LIHEAP coordinators are paid a living wage;
-Protects consumers by ensuring no eligible household has its utilities shutoff or pays late fees, that every household receiving funds can have their utility debt cleared, and that utility companies set up discounted payment plans to support consumers;
-Ensures states can use LIHEAP to address climate adaptation by increasing funding for cooling assistance and ensuring households can access utility assistance during major disasters; and
-Increases funding made available for weatherization through LIHEAP, and establishes a new Just Transition Grant for states and localities to help reduce energy burdens for LIHEAP-eligible households and promote renewable energy usage.

"The Heating and Cooling Relief act would end energy poverty in the US by providing that no family would spend more than 3 percent of their family's budget on home energy and would provide states with the flexibility to weatherize up to 1 million homes per year," said Mark Wolfe, Executive Director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association (NEADA). "The net result will be an end to the stubbornly high utility arrears and shut-offs that low income families have been struggling with for many years."

Congressman Bowman and Senator Markey have been champions for energy and utility justice issues throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. On January 5, 2022 Congressman Bowman, Senator Markey, and Rep Schakowsky led a letter to the Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) urging the Biden Administration to protect consumers from unfairly high heating and energy prices. Last year, Congressman Bowman introduced the Public Power Resolution with Congresswoman Bush to make power a public utility, and he also introduced the Broadband Justice Act to deliver accessible, free broadband to every subsidized household in the nation. As part of the American Rescue Plan, Senator Markey advocated for $20 billion in funding for Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) and $4.5 billion in additional funding to LIHEAP. Last Congress, he also introduced a bill that would have set the sense of Congress that states and utilities should issue a moratorium on gas and electric service disconnections, late fees, reconnection fees, rate hikes, and other penalties for all consumers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

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