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Ryan Praises President’s Release of Home Heating Oil Funds to States

JANESVILLE – President Bush today directed the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Tommy Thompson, to release an additional $200 million in Low Income Home Energy Assistance (LIHEAP) emergency funds to states due to continuing increases in home heating fuel prices this winter. As a result, Wisconsin is expected to receive $6,661,621 in additional LIHEAP emergency funds. Wisconsin’s First District Congressman Paul Ryan praised this decision to release needed LIHEAP funds.

"Many low-income Wisconsin families have been struggling with the cost of heating their homes this winter, and this funding should help ease the strain at a critical time. With temperatures dipping to dangerously cold levels, this help is especially crucial. I support the President’s decision to free up this funding now in order to provide needed relief."

While all states will receive additional assistance, the release is weighted toward those areas most in need. In particular, those states with more low-income households using heating oil will get more resources due to the higher cost of heating oil this winter. Residential heating oil prices this heating season are predicted by the Energy Information Administration to be more than 20 percent higher than the average of the last five years.

LIHEAP helps eligible families pay the costs of heating and insulating their homes in the winter, and cooling their homes in the summer. Approximately 4.6 million low-income households nationwide receive assistance each year.

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